Ivette Walker Year 1
by MaikaBun
Summary: Ivy is a regular girl living with her Aunt Amy, she liked reading, gardening, and she is a witch. Follow Ivy as she begins her journey in the school she's been dreaming of and makes new friends along the way, even the famous Harry Potter.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Ivy woke to her Aunt Amy calling her for breakfast, she resisted the urge to drift off back to sleep, she had been having a very nice dream, the image of soaring castle towers, windows painted by candlelight and a moonlit lake dancing on the edges of her memory, as she strained to better picture her dream (Ivy covered rock walls, grand marvel stairs…) it faded completely and she sat up in bed.

Early morning sunlight streamed through the bay windows, illuminating the hardwood floor and carpet, revealing dust particles dancing across the bookshelves. Ivy glanced at her clock and saw it was 8:30, she stood up and searched under the bed for her slippers, putting them on she walked out of her room and down the stairs, into the kitchen where Aunt Amy was cooking up a batch of pancakes.

"Morning Aunt Amy!" Ivy said, making her way to pick up the stool by the wall and dragging it to the cabinets.

"Morning darling, did you sleep well?" Aunt Amy said as she grabbed the plate piled with pancakes and another one with bacon and setting them on the table.

Aunt Amy was a pretty lady, with long brown hair tied in a ponytail, fair skin and blue eyes like Ivy. She wore big glasses with black frames, people often said they looked alike, and Ivy could see the resemblance, the same deep blue eyes, skin and slight frame, but Ivy had waist long black hair that curled around mid-back, and she was very small, much shorter than a normal 10 year old.

"Very well, I had a really nice dream, but I can't really remember it anymore, there was a castle in it though." Ivy said, grabbing the plates from the cabinets, getting two sets of knives and forks and setting them on the kitchen table, one set in front of the other, she turned back to get her glass.

"Oh? That sounds like an interesting dream, did you stay up late reading fairy tales again?" Aunt Amy said, setting the food on the table and turning to get the carton of milk and her cup of coffee from the kitchen counter.

"Nope, just some of dad's old books," Ivy said, sitting down as her aunt set the milk in front of her, helping herself to two pancakes and slathering them in maple syrup. She heard her aunt's sound of disgust at the sheer amount of syrup she poured and grinned, digging in with gusto.

"I swear you'll end up with rotten teeth with all the sugar you consume, it's amazing really." Aunt Amy said, pouring a much more modest amount of syrup on her own plate. "Which book were you devouring now? I would've thought you'd have finished all of them by now." She said, taking a sip of her coffee.

"I purposely left this one until now, it's _Hogwarts: A History_ , I didn't want to get excited way before I'm supposed to go. Aunt Amy, it's amazing! All the history and interesting facts, like a dream, I almost can't believe a place like that exists! And I get to go! Ohh I can't wait for my letter!" Ivy said all this very rapidly, for once ignoring the food in front of her to gush about her favorite thing: Hogwarts. She'd been enchanted with the place ever since her uncle first told her about it. And she was due to go there starting September.

"Haha I see, well you'll just have to be patient, not much longer now, why don't you finish your breakfast, get changed and go water the garden so you don't end up skulking around the door, you're already scaring the mailman." Aunt Amy said, smiling lightly at her niece's enthusiasm, the girl was always so quiet, but mention Hogwarts or magic and she'd be talking your ear off.

"Alright!" Ivy said, finishing up the rest of her pancakes, serving herself a nice portion of bacon and pouring her usual glass of milk, trying to pace herself, if she got too excited she was bound to make a mess. Eating the last piece of bacon and grabbing her glass of milk, being careful not to swallow too fast, she'd been sick last time she did that, she reached for the carton for more when Aunt Amy interrupted her.

"No, you can't have more than one glass per meal, I know you want to grow taller but getting yourself sick again isn't going to help, go on up and get dressed." Aunt Amy scolded, taking the carton out of Ivy's reach and ignoring her niece's pout. "And brush your teeth very well, before they fall out!" Aunt Amy called as Ivy walked up the stairs.

Ivy went up to her room and into the adjoining bathroom, teeth brushed she went to her closet and picked out a pair of jean shorts and a yellow t-shirt, grabbing her white sneakers she hurried down the stairs, back into the kitchen and out the back door into the backyard. Walking across the neatly trimmed grass to the small shed in the back corner of the yard, she grabbed her water can and filled it up with the tap on wall. She began with the sunflowers that lined the entirety of the fence, walking slowly so as to water them all evenly.

Ten minutes and several trips back to the water tap later, Ivy began on the cherry zinnias that lined the stone path from the backdoor to the oak tree that sat in the center of the garden, a white wooden swing tied to a branch and a hammock strung on its white stand on one side and white wrought iron furniture on its other side, a table and 4 chairs.

As she watered, Ivy inspected some of the fuller bushes, she wanted to replace the flowers in the living room and give some to her aunt to take to the bookstore.

Lastly she watered the purple petunias that were planted in the window sills. Taking one last look around, making sure she didn't miss any flower, Ivy went back to the shed, putting back the watering can and grabbing a small pair of gardening gloves, the large scissors and a small plastic bucket. She went back to the cherry zinnias and began cutting some, until her bucket was full, she then went into the house, bucket in hand. She entered the living room and spotting the vase on the coffee table and grabbed it, back into the kitchen where she took out the half wilted flowers already there, replaced the water and put in the freshly cut zinnias. When she finished she put all the gardening tools back in the shed, grabbed the remaining zinnias and walked into the living room, putting back the vase.

Ivy walked to the hall and into the library, where her aunt sat in her desk going through some papers. The library was the biggest room in the house, it was lined with books, from floor to ceiling, only the far wall was bare of books, it had a fireplace, the mantle filled with picture frames; of Aunt Amy and Ivy on her first day of school, in front of the bookstore Aunt Amy owned, Ivy, Aunt Amy and Uncle Richard in a park, Ivy's deceased grandparents and (Ivy's favorite) baby Ivy cradled in her mother's arms, her father looking proud with his arms around her mother's waist.

There was a big comfy red sofa by the window, Ivy's favorite spot in the room.

Ivy placed the zinnias in the empty vase in her aunt's desk and went to sit in the sofa, "All done with the garden, Aunt Amy, did the mail get here?" She said eager to see if her letter was here yet, sitting on her hands to avoid fidgeting too much.

"Hmm, you cleaned everything up?" Aunt Amy said, still not looking up from her papers, glasses on the tip of her nose.

"Yes, did the mail get here?"

"And made sure you didn't drop any flowers?"

"Yes! Is the mail here?"

"And put everything in its place?"

"Yes! Aunt Amy!" Ivy whined, tired of her aunt dodging the subject.

"Alright, alright" Aunt Amy said, chuckling, she finally looked up at Ivy and took out a thick yellowish envelope from one of the drawers. "Is this what you're so desperate to get your hands on?"

Ivy squealed and jumped off the couch, nearly pouncing on her aunt to get her hands on the letter. The envelope was thick and heavy, made of parchment and the address was written in emerald-green ink.

Ms. I. Walker

Second Bedroom

5 Magnolia Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

There was no stamp, turning it over, Ivy saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter H. The coat of arms was just like the one in the book; the Hogwarts 'H' surrounded by the representative animals of each house. Ivy was grinning ear-to-ear.

Opening it carefully she took out the first letter inside:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Ms. Walker,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Ivy couldn't believe it, it was actually here! She gave the letter to her aunt to read and moved on the next piece of parchment in the envelope, it was a list of the things she's need:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First-year female students will require:

Three plain button-up blouses (white)

Three plain pleated knee-length skirts (charcoal)

Three pairs of plain socks (black or charcoal or white)

Three sets of plain work robes (black)

Three sets of plain stripped ties (white and gray)

Two pairs of plain close-toed flat shoes (black)

One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or other)

One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emetic Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

Wand

Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

Glass or crystal phials set

Telescope set

Brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

"When do you think Uncle Richard can take me to get all this? Can you call him soon? Please?" Ivy said, turning to her aunt who was looking at her in amusement.

"I've already called Richard, he says his next day off is Monday and he'll take you up to London then." Aunt Amy said, taking the list from Ivy, she looked over the impressive list and was glad that Ivy's parents had left her money to get her through school, it wasn't like she couldn't afford it, but it was still an impressive sum of money.

Ivy grinned from ear to ear and taking the letter from her aunt hurried up to her room. Taking an old leather-bound book, entitled _Hogwarts: A History_ in gold lettering, Ivy went to sit on the bay window, filled with pillows and a blue knitted blanket, she began reading, she would sit there for quite a while.

See, Ivy or rather, Ivette Walker, wasn't a regular 10-year-old, she was a witch, a half-blood witch according to her uncle, her father had been a wizard and her mother a muggle, or non-magical person, they had met when her father, an auror (they were like the wizard police, according to uncle Richard who was one as well), had stumbled into Ivy's mom, a nurse. Aunt Amy said her mother, Lucy, was the most caring and forceful person she knew, she had dragged her father, Terrance, to her house, patched him up, gave him something to eat and 2 years later they were married and a few months after Ivy had been born, 6 months later they were dead.

Uncle Richard said it was a Death Eater attack, they had been going after couples like them, wizards who married muggles, he said her parents had died protecting her, luckily the neighbors, bothered by the screaming, had called the police and interrupted the Death Eaters before they could get to Ivy. It was decided that she would be raised by her mother's younger sister, Amelia Reed, since her Uncle and Godfather, her father's younger brother, Richard Walker, was starting as an Auror and couldn't really raise a child. He remained her legal guardian in the wizard world, while Aunt Amy was her legal guardian in the muggle world.

Uncle Richard came by regularly, on holidays and birthdays and sometimes on his days off. He had an…odd relationship with Aunt Amy, it wasn't that they didn't get along, more like there was a weird tension between them. Ivy had known that they liked each other since she was old enough to know the meaning of the word, but they were the most stubborn people she knew and that meant that in 10 years no progress had been made.

Even though Ivy had known all her life about being a witch, she'd actually never been anywhere magical, Aunt Amy saying that she wanted her to have as normal a childhood as possible, and Uncle Richard was no longer allowed to use magic with them after a birthday present gone wrong (Both Amy and Ivy had had nightmares for weeks after, dolls were not meant to be that lifelike….).

The rest of the week passed much in this manner, Ivy was fidgeting so much, waiting for Monday; she ran through her chores like whirlwind, was re-reading any and all of her father's old books and just generally wandering around the neighborhood in her bike.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Monday rolled around.

Ivy woke bright and early; she showered and dressed in faded jeans, a nice blue blouse and black converse. Since her aunt wasn't up yet, she decided to make breakfast, she made bacon and eggs with toast for 3 since Uncle Richard would probably forget breakfast. She set the table and started the coffee machine; she turned around and saw Aunt Amy walking into the kitchen already dressed.

"Good morning! Are you coming with us today Aunt Amy?" Ivy said, getting the milk and her glass.

"No, sorry hun, I've gotta work today, there's a big shipment of books I've gotta manage." Aunt Amy said, sitting down as Ivy brought over breakfast and helping herself.

The doorbell rang and Ivy nearly knocked her chair over in her excitement. She opened the door and there was Uncle Richard. He was dressed in black dress pants and a green button-down with his usual black leather jacket.

"Uncle Richard!" Ivy nearly squealed, leaping at her uncle who caught her around the waist and threw her over his shoulder.

"Hey sweetheart, congratulations on getting into Hogwarts, I'm so proud of you!" He said, closing the door and walking into the kitchen, he let Ivy down in her chair and went to sit down in an empty one.

"Morning Amy, how are you?" He said, helping himself to breakfast. Richard Walker was tall handsome man, with blond hair and bronzed skin from working outdoors so much, he had mischievous brown eyes and a quirky smile, with a few scars on his cheeks and many more on his arms (as well as the rest of his body).

"Good morning Richard, I'm well and you? Not too tired I hope, or else you won't be able to keep up with Ivy." Aunt Amy said, giving him a cup of coffee, 2 sugars with cream, just the way he liked it.

The small family went on chatting in that manner, Amy telling Richard how Ivy had been a bundle of energy ever since getting her letter, about the new shipment the bookstore was getting, and Richard in turn talking about his work, censored for Ivy's sake, how this one guy in the office fell down the other day and scattered a box of hexed tennis balls they were supposed to take to the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office (apparently they hurt, a lot).

Ivy glanced at her aunt and uncle from under her lashes, giving them a sly look. She chose not to join the conversation, just watching them interact. Quietly getting up after finishing breakfast, and trying to sneak in a second glass of milk ("Drop it." Came the double reply, they didn't even look her way, for goodness' sake!), she went up to her room, checking her appearance once again. Her black hair was loose, and she decided to hold it back with a white ribbon, double checking that there was no food spilled on her clothes. Ivy grabbed her letter and her jacket and hurried downstairs.

Her aunt and uncle were already in the hall, waiting for her.

"All set? Got your letter?" Uncle Richard said, as Ivy came down the hall.

"Yup! All set, let's go!" Ivy exclaimed as she hurried to push Richard out the open door towards the car parked out in the drive. While generally he didn't drive, he kept the old black car for when he visited Ivy, that way he could take her (and Aunt Amy) out.

"Bye Aunt Amy! I'll see you when I come back!" Ivy threw over her shoulder as she left Richard and trotted towards the car, her excitement practically oozing from her very being. She sneakily left her two guardians alone.

"I think you might want to keep her on a leash, you might just lose her." Aunt Amy said, her tone revealing her amusement.

"I might just have to." Richard said, matching Aunt Amy's tone. They were both gazing amusedly at their niece and exchanged exasperated looks before bidding good-bye.

Richard and Ivy got into the car, immediately buckling up and taking off towards London, where Uncle Richard had told Ivy they could find Diagon Alley, a place Ivy had only heard of from Uncle Richard's stories, needless to say, she was more than excited.

During the entire trip Ivy battered Uncle Richard with endless questions about Diagon Alley, Hogwarts and Richard's own time there. Richard needless to say, was more than amused with Ivy's behavior, the girl was rarely so animated, and so he indulged in her curiosities. It was a long trip anyways.


	2. Chapter 2

"We're here!" Uncle Richard exclaimed as he parked the car in a small car park.

Ivy looked around but it was all ordinary, while she was aware that certain magical locations were hidden from muggles' view, she should have been able to see something. Uncle Richard noticed her curiosity and laughed.

"We have to walk a bit to get there, darling." He said as he got out of the car and went to help Ivy out of her side.

He took her hand and walked out into the busy London street. Ivy was very excited, she had been to London on very few occasions, and in those she had never gotten to wander around the streets. Aunt Amy always said she was afraid she would get lost, though Ivy thought this ridiculous, while she may not be the most oriented person around, she could certainly read signs and remember where she had been. Maybe.

As they walked, Ivy looked at all the people walking by, not a care in the world, at all the different shops, music shops, book shops (she made a mental note of them, for her aunt later), restaurants and cinemas. Although she was amazed at them all, she kept looking for that one shop that didn't belong, that little pub her Uncle Richard had told her served as the entrance to Diagon Alley.

"Here we are, the Leaky Cauldron." Uncle Richard said, grabbing her attention at once.

It was a tiny, dirty-looking pub, she would have missed it if she hadn't been looking for it, nestled between a big bookshop and a record shop. Despite the sorry sight it presented, Ivy beamed as they approached the Leaky Cauldron.

The inside wasn't much better than the outside, dark and shabby, with very few customers, but everyone seemed to be in a tizzy, talking and smiling and exclaiming excitedly, no one even noticed them come in. Uncle Richard led her towards the bartender, keeping a strong grip on Ivy's hand.

"Hey Tom, what's all the hubbub about? Did Fudge stop by again?" Uncle Richard said jokingly, talking to the bartender, who was in turn talking excitedly to an older lady with a pipe in her hand.

"You won't believe it Richard! Harry Potter has just walked through!" the bartender said, he's voice gone high with glee. Uncle Richard went slack-jawed with surprise and Ivy opened her mouth in a surprised O.

While she wasn't allowed to be told too much of the magical world, this was something Uncle Richard insisted on telling her, it wouldn't do if she got to meet the famous Harry Potter at Hogwarts and not even know who he was. He had told her how Harry had been just a baby when he had made the Dark Lord, who had terrorized the magical world and had been responsible for Ivy's parents deaths, vanish without a trace.

Ivy, being the curious child she was, had asked how a baby could make a powerful Dark Wizard disappear when no one else could.

" _That's the mystery of it,but he survived when no one else did, and we owe a lot to him, who knows how many more would have died, how our lives would be now if whatever happened hadn't." He had told her, voice hushed with wonder._

No wonder everyone was in such a tizzy, they had just met their savior. Ivy briefly wondered what Harry Potter could be like, she knew he was a boy her age, but would he be arrogant with the greatness of his accomplishments gone to his head? Would he be kind like her Uncle Richard? Or something else entirely? Her mind ran with the possibilities.

"Seriously? Well, that certainly explains things." Uncle Richard said, bringing Ivy back from her thoughts. "I'd love to stay and hear more, but I have errands to run. My niece is starting Hogwarts and we have some shopping to do."

That drew Tom's attention to Ivy, still clutching Uncle Richard's hand, she resisted the urge to hide behind Uncle Richard, telling herself this was something she needed to get over, strangers always made her nervous…

"Oh Richard, is that her? She's adorable!" the lady with the pipe exclaimed, having caught sight of Ivy as well. Ivy felt the urge to hide become much stronger.

"That's her, time flies, no? But we really must get going." Uncle Richard said, walking towards a small walled courtyard filled with trash and weeds. As they turned away, Ivy built her courage, remembering her aunt's words to always be polite, and waved briefly to Tom and the lady.

When they entered the courtyard, Uncle Richard pulled out his wand. It was one of the few times Ivy had seen it, it had always awed her, a beautiful dark chocolate color, straight and long, about the length of her forearm. Her uncle had once told her it contained a unicorn hair. He tapped the wand to the center of the brick wall thrice, and Ivy watched in awe as a hole appeared in the center, growing ever wider until an archway was before them.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley, dear." Uncle Richard said, making a grand sweeping gesture with his arm. And it truly deserved it.

It was a wonderful sight, a long crooked street extended before her, the store's wares spilling out onto the cobbled street. Stacks of cauldrons gleaming on the sun, strange instruments Ivy had never seen sat on spindly tables, the sound of hooting and screeching from a darkened shop, Eeylops Owl Emporium the sign proclaimed. There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and more strange silver instruments, and even an apothecary, with it's strange smells spilling out into the street. Ivy looked at the piles of books, quills, and rolls of parchment with glee, she couldn't wait to get to that part of the list. And in the distance, a snowy white building, tall and imposing, towering over the other shops, with doors of burnished bronze.

As they moved down the Alley, she couldn't look around fast enough, there were so many people, wizards and witches in their robes, some in more muggle-looking suits, some in pairs, some with children, some alone, almost all with shopping bags. Uncle Richard held tightly on to her hand, making sure she wouldn't wander off, but he looked amused.

"Well, I already went to get the money for this outing the other day, so what do you want to get first?" Uncle Richard said, as the passed the various shops, he had an inkling that his little niece would go for the books first, so he would have to get it over with quickly, she would be there all day if he allowed her. Ivy turned towards him and then looked at all the various shops. She really wanted to get her books, but more than that she wanted…but she'll leave that for later, the best for last. First they would go….

"Let's get my uniform, Uncle Richard." She said, pointing towards a small shop that had a few robes displayed on the window, among them, the Hogwarts uniform. The sign named it Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Uncle Richard raised a brow, clearly surprised, but shrugged and started making his way towards the shop. As the neared it, they saw a giant of a man in front of the store, and Ivy stuttered to a stop. The man had to be at least 8 feet tall, with a wild beard and equally wild hair. Ivy had never seen someone quite like him. But apparently, her uncle had.

"Hagrid! Fancy meeting you here." Uncle Richard greeted the giant, Hagrid, with a wide smile. Ivy loosened up a bit, clearly her uncle knew and liked the man, so he couldn't be nearly as scary as he looked.

"Richard, funny seein' yeh here" Hagrid said, he had a funny way of talking, with a thick accent she couldn't place, but Ivy found it interesting. She peeked out from behind Uncle Richard, where she had hidden.

"Just here accompanying my niece, she's starting Hogwarts this year so I thought I should take her shopping." Uncle Richard said, gesturing down to little Ivy, halfway hidden behind his legs. At being mentioned, she fully came out of her hiding and shyly said hello to Hagrid.

"Blimey, is that Terrance's daughter? She's already so grown, all ready to go off to Hogwarts" Hagrid said, a twinkle in his beetle black eyes. Ivy instantly perked up at the mention of her father.

"You knew my dad?" she said, voice strong, timidity forgotten in the wake of her curiosity. Hagrid chuckled and Uncle Richard smiled, happy to see her coming out of her shell a bit.

"Did I? Yer dad was a great wizard, knew 'im when he was back at Hogwarts. I'm the gamekeeper there." Hagrid said, beaming proudly and puffing his massive chest. Ivy giggled at the man's antics, a million questions going through her head. She always loved to hear new things about her parents, and though her aunt and uncle had basically told her everything there was to know, it was exciting to hear a new perspective.

"I'm on Hogwarts business meself, but now I'm heading back to the Leaky Cauldron for a pick-me-up, them Gringotts carts always get to me" Hagrid said, and indeed he did look a bit green. "Enjoy yer shopping trip. See yah at Hogwarts, dear." Hagrid said, waving goodbye to them, he parted the crowds easily with his massive frame.

They went on in to Madam Malkin's and were greeted by a squat smiling witch, who must have been Madam Malkin, dressed in all mauve.

"Hogwarts? Goodness, so many new students! You can both head to the back, we already have two young men being fitted now." Madam Malkin said, ushering them towards the back of the shop.

As she had said there were already two boys up on stools, one already being fitted and the other was attended to by Madam Malkin, while a young brown haired witch attended to Ivy, they started with the robes and she began to pin it to the right length.

"Hello, Hogwarts, too?" Ivy heard the blond boy say to the other one, a small looking brunette with glasses.

"Yes" the brunette said.

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands" the blond said, he's voice was bored and drawling, Ivy instantly frowned. He sounded stuck up, like some of the popular girls in school, assured that they were the cream of the crop, nothing could stand in their way. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

Ivy's opinion of the blond went down again, he was a grade A Brat, though Ivy herself didn't see the point of the rule, she knew it was there for a good reason, almost all rules were.

"Have you got your own broom?" the boy asked.

"No." The brunette said, voice jilted, he really didn't sound like he wanted to talk to the blond.

"And you?" the blond said, finally addressing Ivy, both boys turned towards her now. Ivy steeled herself. She could do this.

"No." She said, voice low.

"Play Quidditch at all?" the blond continued. Ah Quidditch, of course. Though Uncle Richard had excitedly told her all about the wizard sport, Aunt Amy had been so horrified at how dangerous it sounded she pleaded Ivy never to seriously play it.

"No." Both she and the brunette said, the boy a bit confused.

"I do. Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree." _Of course you would._ Ivy thought, inwardly rolling her eyes, she was liking this boy less and less. At least the other one didn't seem to be as stuck up, though he had said about as much as she had. "Know what house you'll be in yet?"

"No." The brunette said.

"Well, no one really does until you get there, they sort you in." Ivy said, finally beginning to lose he patience with the blond boy. Both boys looked at her, the brunette somewhat grateful. Ivy figured he was muggleborn and was just feeling confused by all the questions the blond was asking.

"Well, yes. But I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been, imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" the blond continued as if Ivy hadn't interrupted. He looked smug as he said that. Ah yes, Slytherin, house of the cunning and ambitious, that seemed to fit the unpleasant blond.

"There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff, its as good a house as all the others." Ivy said, getting exasperated with the blond now. Where did he get off insulting an entire house of people?

The blond frowned at her, as if he weren't used to anyone disagreeing with him, she bet no one ever had. He opened his mouth to say something but something else caught his eye.

"I say, look at that man!" the boy said suddenly. Nodding towards the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning and pointing at two large ice creams to show he couldn't come in. Ivy smiled, but then wondered why exactly Hagrid was back.

"That's Hagrid" the brunette said, catching Ivy's attention. "He works at Hogwarts" he was smiling as he said this, Ivy then made the connection. Hagrid must be here to help the brunette, since he clearly wasn't accompanied by anyone.

"Oh, I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?" the blond said, making Ivy frown. How rude!

"He's the gamekeeper." The brunette said. He seemed to be getting more annoyed with the blond brat. And quite honestly, Ivy was right behind him.

"Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of savage" the blond said. Ivy felt outraged, how dare he say something like that?! "Lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed." He said, smirking.

"I think he's brilliant." The brunette said, his voice suddenly turning cold. Ivy nodded her head, quite obviously agreeing with him, but the blond payed her no mind.

"Do you?" the boy said, sneering "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?" now Ivy thought this all quite rude, where did this Brat get off talking like that?

"They're dead." The brunette said, voice clipped. That gave Ivy pause, so he was like her, but clearly he didn't have a magical relative to help him along. She thought it was brilliant of Hogwarts to send someone to help him out.

"Oh, sorry." The blond said, not sounding sorry at all. "But they were our kind, weren't they?" Ivy was near to burst with anger towards this boy, how could someone be so rude?! She could see Uncle Richard leaning against the far wall, frowning. He was clearly as displeased as she was with that blond boy.

"The were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean" the brunette said. Oh? That was interesting, so he wasn't muggleborn.

"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?" the blond said. And that was just about it for Ivy.

"Of course they've never heard of Hogwarts before getting the letter. There does happen to be a law against letting muggles know about magic. Where do you get off saying something so awful! You know nothing of those people. You've no right to judge them. If they got the letter they have as much right as you and me to be at Hogwarts!" Ivy exclaimed, she could feel her face getting flushed with anger and she knew she probably looked ridiculous but at that moment she didn't care. She was just so angry! She hated entitled brats like him that felt they deserved more than others simply because of who their parents were.

The boys were surprised, clearly not expecting the outburst. The blond looked at her disapprovingly, angry at her for berating him, no doubt he'd never had someone do that either. The brunette looked at her, a bit of awe in his green eyes.

Before the blond could retort the witch that was attending to him told him he was done, he left his stool and walked towards the entrance, obviously going to his parents. As he left he threw Ivy a clearly disgusted look and turned towards the brunette.

"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose." He said, very obviously ignoring Ivy but she didn't care, she was just glad he was gone. _Good riddance!_

"How rude! How can someone so small be so self-absorbed?" Ivy huffed turning towards the other boy left. "You're a saint for standing so quietly, I just couldn't hold my anger. People like him just push my buttons!"

The brunette smiled and nodded. As they finished their robes, they stepped off their own stools and went to pick up the rest of their uniforms, Uncle Richard coming to stand behind Ivy.

"I'm Ivy Walker, I'll be starting my first year at Hogwarts, it's nice to meet you!" she said, extending her hand for the boy to shake. He gripped her hand and smiled.

"Harry Potter, I'll be starting at Hogwarts as well, it's nice to meet you too." Harry said. Ivy went slack-jawed and she could feel the surprise radiate off of Uncle Richard.

"Huh…." Ivy said, she couldn't think of anything else to say, so she just smiled and went ahead with Harry to pick up the rest of their uniforms.

After picking up the required items of clothing, they went to pay, thanking Madam Malkin and heading out to the front door, where Hagrid was waiting with his two ice creams.

"Hello again, Hagrid" Uncle Richard said, smiling at the giant man as they stepped out of Madam Malkin's with their shopping. Ivy smiled and waved, still not quite comfortable with the man.

Harry was rather quiet as he took the ice cream Hagrid had bought him (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts).

"I see yeh met Harry, I'm glad. Now he can have a friend before entering Hogwarts." Hagrid said, greeting Ivy and Richard once again. Ivy noticed how quiet Harry was as he ate his ice cream.

"Hey Harry, want to do our shopping together?" Ivy said, worried for her (possible) new friend. Was he upset because of the encounter with the blond boy? She didn't want him to feel bad and she was still curious about him. She wanted to know who the famous Harry Potter truly was.

Harry looked up, surprised at the sudden invitation, but agreed nonetheless. Hagrid and Uncle Richard beamed, and the four began to walk towards their next destination. But first…

"Uncle Richard! Can I get an ice cream as well?" Ivy asked, looking longingly at the ice creams. Richard laughed, he saw that one coming. He took them to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor and ordered two cones. Mint chocolate chip and vanilla with chopped nuts for Uncle Richard and Ivy got brownie and caramel with whipped cream (no cherry on top).

While walking Hagrid caught on to Harry's strange mood.

"What's up?" said Hagrid.

"Nothing." Harry lied. They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed colors as you wrote. Ivy got standard black and blue ink but managed to convince Richard to get her an extra set of four: red, green, purple and gold. As they left the shop, Harry caved.

"Hagrid, what's Quidditch?" Harry asked. Hagrid and Uncle Richard did a double take, but Ivy simply frowned. So it was about the blond after all…

"Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know, not knowing about Quidditch!" Hagrid said.

"Don't make me feel worse." Said Harry. He told Hagrid about the blond boy in Madam Malkin's.

"…and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in." Harry said, sounding miffed. Ivy silently shared his sentiment.

"Yer not from a Muggle family. If he's know who yeh were — He's grown up knowin' yer name if he parents are wizardin' folk. You saw what everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was like when they saw yeh. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles — look at yer mum! Look at what she had fer a sister!" Harry said. Ivy and Uncle Richard exchanged glances at that last sentence. Clearly, Harry hadn't grown up in a magic friendly family, he wasn't like Ivy, though Aunt Amy forbade magic in the house, she never hid the fact from Ivy and always allowed Ivy to explore that part of herself.

"So what is Quidditch?"

"It's our sport. Wizard sport. It's like — it's like soccer in the Muggle world — everyone follows Quidditch — played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls — sorta hard ter explain the rules."

"And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"

"School houses. There are four in total, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Hufflepuff. Hufflepuffs have a reputation for being the more mellow of the lot, that's probably why that boy insulted them, but all the houses are great, in my opinion." Ivy jumped in, sharing a bit of what Uncle Richard had told her over the years. Books were great, but they can't tell you how people perceive certain things, so he had told her about each house's reputation.

"Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin." Hagrid said darkly. "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."

Ivy frowned at that, but couldn't really argue with that point, though she disagreed that being in Slytherin had much to do with it, Hagrid was right, she hadn't heard of any dark witch or wizard that had attended Hogwarts that wasn't in Slytherin.

"Vol— sorry, You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?" harry asked.

"Years an' years ago." Said Hagrid.

"Cheer up Harry, there's plenty of people who go to Hogwarts not knowing much, even though I know a bit, it's mostly because of the books my dad left behind and because of Uncle Richard. This is my first time in Diagon Alley, or any magical place, really." Ivy said, smiling at her new friend, Harry smiled back.

They bought their school books in shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. Ivy was starstruck, she had never seen a wider variety of books in her life, this was amazing! She went off to see as many books as she could get her hands on. Sadly, Uncle Richard only let her get her school books, she resisted the urge to pout. Hagrid almost had to drag Harry away from Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More) by Professor Vindictus Viridian, Ivy giggling all the way.

"I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley."

"I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances." Said Hagrid. "An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level."

"Uhm, who's Dudley?" Ivy asked, she wasn't quite sure if it was ok to ask, but she lost nothing trying.

"He's my cousin and a horrible bully. But you don't need to worry about that." Harry said, smiling at Ivy.

Hagrid wouldn't let Harry buy a solid gold cauldron, either ("it says pewter on yer list" Hagrid said. "Wouldn't that be really heavy to carry around?" Ivy teased.) but they got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope for Harry. Ivy got the same set of scales but her telescope was silver in color.

Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotten cabbages. Ivy's face became tight with the strain of the smell, to the point that Uncle Richard took pity on her and gave her his hanky to cover her face. Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor; jars of herbs, dried roots, and bright powders lined the walls; bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. While Hagrid and Uncle Richard asked the man behind the counter for a supply of basic potion ingredients for the kids, Harry and Ivy examined the things on the walls and barrels, Ivy explaining what some of the more common ingredients were and what they were used for. They were distracted by the silver unicorn horns (21 Galleons each) and minuscule, glittery-black beetle eyes (5 knuts a scoop). "Wonder how they get them out so perfectly?" Ivy wondered

"Must be with magic." Harry said

"Huh. That makes sense. Can you imagine how long it would take otherwise?" Ivy said, giggling at the image of some old witch or wizard painstakingly extracting tiny eyes from beetles. Harry laughed along.

Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked Harry's list again.

"Just yer wands left —Ah yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present."

Harry felt himself go red

"You don't have to—"

"Today's your birthday?!" Ivy exclaimed. Harry's face went redder.

"I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at — an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer mail an' everythin'."

Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Harry now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with he head under her wing. He couldn't stop stammering his thanks. Ivy had walked out with a large barn owl, but she had trouble carrying the cage so Uncle Richard took it for her. Her owl was male and a pretty auburn color.

"Don' mention it." Hagrid said gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivanders left now — only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand." Hagrid said. Uncle Richard and Ivy exchanged looks again, not many presents…? What kind of people had Harry been living with? Ivy had wanted to get her friend a present as well, but she really didn't know what to get him…

The thought of buying her wand put her worries out of her head though. This was what she was looking forward to most, a magic wand! She could tell Harry was as excited as she was and they exchanged smiles, giddy to finally have their wands.

The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.

A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait. Ivy looked at the chair in surprised, but caught Uncle Richard's disapproving look and quickly moved towards where Harry was. Neither spoke, they felt as if they had entered a very strict library; Ivy could see the curiosity in his eyes but he kept quiet. They looked at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right to the ceiling. The hairs on the back of Ivy's neck stood up and she felt a shiver go down her spine. The very air and silence seemed to tingle with some secret magic.

"Good afternoon." Said a soft voice. Harry and Ivy both jumped, Ivy covering her mouth to stifle the little shriek that almost left her. Hagrid must have jumped too, because there was a loud crunching noise and got quickly off the spindly chair. Uncle Richard tried not too look too surprised, though Ivy saw him unconsciously reach for his wand.

An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons though the gloom of the shop.

"Hello" said Harry awkwardly. Ivy nodded and tried to resist the urge to hid behind Harry, who was closest to her, but still edged closer to him. Just in case.

"Ah yes." Said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a question. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."

Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy. He felt Ivy inching closer still, grabbing on to the back of his shirt, as if ready to bolt and drag him with her.

"Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it — it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."

Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes. He felt Ivy pull on his shirt, trying to get him away from the strange man.

"And that's where…"

Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger.

"I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it." He said softly.

"Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands…Well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do…"

He shook his head and then, to Harry's and Ivy's relief, spotted Hagrid.

"Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again…Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"

"It was, sir, yes." Said Hagrid.

"Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern.

"Er— yes, they did, yes." Said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though." He added brightly.

"But you don't use them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply.

"Oh, no, sir." Said Hagrid quickly. Harry noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke.

"Hmm." Said Mr. Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look, and then he spotted Uncle Richard. "Ah, Richard Walker, such a lovely surprised to see you here again. Hazel, twelve inches, rather flexible, correct?"

"Yes, sir. Still works like a charm." Uncle Richard said, hand going towards his left side, where Ivy knew he kept his wand. Suddenly Mr. Ollivander was looking at her though, and she tried not to panic.

"Ah, I see, you must be Ms. Walker. You don't resemble your father all that much, so that must mean you take after your mother. I remember when he walked in here. Alder, thirteen inches. Rigid. Very good wand for non-verbal spells, once the owner has gotten to that level. He was a good man."

Mr. Ollivander had walked closer to Ivy as he talked, but she didn't try to hid this time. She looked straight into Mr. Ollivander's silvery eyes, eager to hear more, but it seemed as if he had said all he was going to say.

"Well, now — Ladies first, Ms. Walker, which is you wand arm?" he pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket.

"Uhm….I'm right-handed." She said, still a bit shaken.

"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measures Ivy from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round her head. As he measure, he said. "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

Ivy noticed Harry gaping at her and then realized it was because the tape measure, which was measuring between her nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, seemingly looking for a specific box. He took out a box, then shook his head and put it back.

"That will do." He said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. He seemed to have found the box he was looking for, as he only carried one with him. "Right then, Ms. Walker. Try this one, I feel, if you were anything like your father, that this will be a good match. Apple, twelve inches, unicorn hair. Slightly flexible, the only one of that kind I have. Just give it a wave."

Ivy took the wand and suddenly felt a rush of warmth and a sense of peace. She waved the wand and gold and silver sparks shot from the end of the wand, floating around even when she had stopped waving the wand. She heard Uncle Richard and Hagrid clapping and saw Harry grinning at her, the awe in his eyes matching the same she felt. Mr. Ollivander put Ivy's wand back in its box, wrapped it in brown paper and handed it to her.

"Now, Mr. Potter, your turn." Mr. Ollivander said. The process with the tape measure repeated and Mr. Ollivander started going around, unlike with Ivy, he picked up a bunch of boxes, before stopping the tape measure and coming back to them.

"Right then, Mr. Potter, Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."

Harry took the wand and gave it a wave, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.

"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try—"

Harry tried — but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.

"No, no — here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."

Harry tried. And tried. The pile of wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become. Hagrid and Richard had begun talking and Ivy was staring at the rather impressive pile, a slightly amused look on her face. Harry was kind of glad that no one seemed concerned, it made the irrational fear of there being a mistake and him not being a wizard at all subside.

"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere — I wonder, now — yes, why not, unusual combination, holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."

Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls. Hagrid whooped and clapped, Richard and Ivy both clapped as well, Ivy offering Harry a blinding smile. Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well…how curious…how very curious…"

He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering. "Curious….curious…"

"Sorry," said Harry "but what's curious?"

Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather — just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother, why, its brother gave you that scar."

Harry swallowed and Ivy gaped, eyebrows shooting up.

"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember…I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter… After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things — terrible, yes, but great."

Harry shivered. He wasn't sure he he liked Mr. Ollivander too much. He saw that Ivy's face had gone pale and she was looking at Mr. Ollivander rather nervously. They paid seven gold Galleons for their wands, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.

The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky as the group of four made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty.

"Well, we should be on our way now, Ivy and I have a bit of a ride back home. It was good to see you again, Hagrid." Uncle Richard said. "It was nice to meet you, Harry. I hope to hear more about you from Ivy." He shook hands with both Hagrid and Harry.

"Bye-bye! It was nice to meet the both of you! Let's meet again on the Hogwarts Express, alright Harry? See you at Hogwarts, Hagrid!" Ivy said, smiling at her new friends. She and Uncle Richard started to walk in the direction of the car park.

Uncle Richard carried most of their packages but Ivy insisted on getting the smaller things like her potions ingredients and her wand. Once they reached the car, they put everything in the back seat and Ivy carefully strapped the owl cage to make sure it wouldn't slip during the journey. Once done they started making their way back home. Ivy would have talked all through the journey but she was strangely quite, mind far away, thinking of her new friend. Uncle Richard could see she was in one of her thinking moods and simply turned on the radio to a rock station and quietly hummed to the beat.

Harry Potter. He was quite different from what she had imagined, he didn't act like the famous people she saw on the TV sometimes or like the popular girls in her school. She was glad really, she couldn't imagine getting along with him if he did. He was a quiet boy, but she could tell he was going to be a great friend. Ivy fell asleep while deep in thought, a smile on her face, thinking about Harry and all the friends and adventures they would get in once at Hogwarts. She didn't wake up, even when they arrived back at Aunt Amy's house, she barely stirred when Uncle Richard took her inside and all the way up to her bedroom, where he and Aunt Amy tucked her in and put all her packages in a corner of her room.

They went down to the kitchen, Aunt Amy made a cup of coffee and Uncle Richard told her all about their day.

"He's a good kid, I think. I didn't personally know his parents, they were several years ahead of me at Hogwarts, but even I can tell he's the spitting image of his father. Hopefully, he'll take more after his mother in behavior though, there wasn't a week at Hogwarts when James Potter and his group didn't pulled some sort of stunt. They all calmed down once he started dating Lily of course, she couldn't stand him before that." Richard said, smiling fondly at simpler times, when he didn't have much more than marks and girls to worry about, when Terrance was still alive and well…

"He sounds great, and if Ivy has anything to say about it, I'm sure he'll behave somewhat. Neither of us raised her to be a troublemaker, and besides, she's too smart to get caught." Aunt Amy said, smiling into her cup. Yes her nice could get away with most things, she had a knack for making things out to be other's fault. Though luckily she was well behaved most of the time.

"There is one thing that worries me, Hagrid let slip a few things about the family he was living with, still living with I suppose, he never was particularly great at being subtle, and it didn't sound like they were very accepting of who Harry is, of what he is. Sounded like he had a rough life." Richard said.

"Well, it doesn't matter now, there's not much we can do about it. But I'm sure Ivy picked up on it as well, hopefully she can be a good friend to him. If what you told me is true, the boy could use one." Aunt Amy said. They drifted into silence, both deep in their thoughts, until Richard got up and said he had to get home before it was too late. He bid Aunt Amy goodnight and said he'd drop by as soon as he could.


	3. Chapter 3

The wait for September 1st was nearly torture for Ivy. She read her school books almost obsessively, noting what was different and what was the same from her father's old school books. She even started her notes on subjects she knew she would have trouble in, specially History of Magic, it seemed endlessly dull. When Aunt Amy came back from work one day with a brand new trunk for Ivy, she immediately began to organize her things. She washed her uniforms and ironed them before folding them neatly on one side of the trunk. She filled the other side with her school materials and even took a few brand new notebooks she had bought with her allowance, even though she knew they used parchment at Hogwarts, there seemed to be no rule against using muggle things like notebooks and pens, and it was simply easier for her to make personal notes in regular notebooks.

The books she left for last, as she was still reading them, she didn't read them through completely, just the basic things so she wouldn't be lost in class. She wondered if Harry was doing the same, he seemed very curious about everything back in Diagon Alley so she figured he was about as interested as her in learning, if not more.

She had decided to name her barn owl Einri, Aunt Amy had suggested it and she had loved it. Aunt Amy had been apprehensive at first about having Einri around but Ivy managed to convince her by telling her that she would clean any mess he made, unfortunately for her, that meant quite a collection of dead mice he kept bringing during the night. At least they didn't have to worry about feeding him…

She filled her days doing as many things as possible, mainly helping Aunt Amy out in the bookstore, reading and tending to the garden. Uncle Richard came by once but he had been in a hurry, said he had already reserved September 1st as a free day, so he had to make up for it on other days.

Finally the day came. Ivy woke earlier than usual and couldn't fall back asleep, so she got up, went to shower, brushed her teeth, and brushed out any tangles from her long hair. Aunt Amy had convinced her to wear a knee-length blue sun dress and ballet flats. She placed a black headband to hold back her hair and went downstairs. It seemed as if Aunt Amy had woken as early as her, since she was already downstairs making breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes for a special occasion. She was going to prepare something for lunch but Uncle Richard had said he'd give her money for the trolley, so she could start tasting the food from the wizarding world.

They went through their usual routine, Ivy preparing a pot of coffee for Aunt Amy and Uncle Richard and preparing her glass of milk. As Ivy finished setting the table, three places instead of two, the doorbell rang and she rushed to get it. Uncle Richard greeted her with a smile and a gift in hand, making Ivy squeal in delight. They went into the kitchen to sit down, where Aunt Amy already had breakfast on the table.

"What's this? It's not my birthday yet." Ivy asked, taking the present from Uncle Richard, it was a medium sized box wrapped in green paper. It didn't look like a book…

"You can consider this a congratulations present for going off to Hogwarts, your Aunt and I planned it. Go ahead, open it." He said, chuckling. Ivy immediately went to open it, being careful not to make a mess on the table.

It was a Polaroid camera, black and silver and small, it also had a strap so she could hang it from her neck, which had her name in red letters. The rest of the box was filled with film, enough to last her a few months. She knew immediately what it meant. Up in the bookshelf in Aunt Amy's study there was an entire shelf of scrapbooks. Aunt Amy had told her that her mother would document every one of her school years once she got to secondary school. She felt her eyes tear up when she looked up to see Aunt Amy holding a brand new, forest green scrapbook in her hand.

Ivy got off her chair, placing the camera carefully on the table before tackling them. They didn't comment on her tears, just smiled and hugged, and Ivy was the most content she had ever been.

"I've charmed it so that it takes wizarding pictures. I had to go through a lot of paperwork though. Thankfully I've got some friends who are experts in that." Uncle Richard said, hugging Ivy tightly.

After eating breakfast and bringing Ivy's trunk down the stairs, Ivy looked around her home one more time and was hit with a sudden rush of homesickness, she wouldn't see this place again until Christmas, it would be the longest she's ever been away from home, and neither Aunt Amy nor Uncle Richard would be with her. She felt the tears prickling her eyes again, but she remembered where she was going, and who would (might) be waiting for her and excitement dwarfed the homesickness. She hurried after her aunt and uncle and locked the door behind her.

On the way to King's Cross they chatted about what might be waiting for Ivy at Hogwarts, plans to see each other on Christmas and how work was for Aunt Amy and Uncle Richard (same as always). Ivy left them to their conversation after a while, looking out the window, watching the scenery go by. She listened to them banter back and forth and wondered when they would ever realize their feelings for each other. Ivy would have to work all the harder now that she wouldn't be around as much.

They reached King's Cross at roughly ten o'clock, Uncle Richard parked the car and unloaded Ivy's (quite heavy) trunk, together they set out towards the platforms. Ivy took her ticket out from the small shoulder bag she had brought to keep the money Uncle Richard had given her. When they got to platform nine, Ivy realized there was a small problem.

"Where's the platform?" Aunt Amy voiced Ivy's question. And indeed, there was no platform nine and three-quarters, there was platform nine and platform ten and in the middle nothing at all. They both looked at Uncle Richard worriedly but he seemed perfectly calm, they figured there must be some sort of magic keeping the platform hidden, but this wasn't like the Leaky Cauldron, it wasn't concealed, it simply wasn't there at all.

"Calm down, everything is fine, just act as normal as possible and follow my lead. Now Amy, you come with me, since you're muggle, Ivy, just watch and follow right after us, but make sure no one is watching, alright?" Uncle Richard said, casually taking Aunt Amy's arm and taking the trolley with Ivy's trunk. He handed Ivy Einri's cage and gestured for her to watch closely.

They walked towards the brick barrier between platforms nine and ten very casually, Uncle Richard subtly looking around and when the coast was clear, he wrapped an arm around Aunt Amy's waist, grabbed the trolley and broke into a bit of a run. Ivy was sure that they would crash straight into the barrier, but as they hit the barrier they went straight on through.

Ivy went slack-jawed for a minute but quickly recovered her senses. She looked around to make sure that no one had seen and began walking casually towards the barrier, all the while trying not to look suspicious (and probably failing miserably). When she saw that no one was paying attention to her, even with the rather large barn owl in her hand, she broke into a run. As she got to the barrier, her courage failed her and she closed her eyes. She waited for the crash that never came. She opened her eyes.

A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock. Ivy looked behind her and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it.

She looked forward again and saw Uncle Richard and Aunt Amy up ahead with her trolley. Aunt Amy seemed to be a bit queasy as she hurried over to them. Uncle Richard was rubbing Aunt Amy's back soothingly, an amused smile on his face.

"Are you ok, Aunt Amy?" Ivy asked. She didn't feel anything particularly jarring about the cross over, but then again, Aunt Amy was muggle, it must be harder for her.

"Yes, just a bit…out of sorts." She said, she didn't sound alright though. She took a deep breath and straightened her back, Uncle Richard let his hand fall from her back, and grabbed the trolley.

"Let's get you a carriage before they all get full, then I'll take your aunt home, she'll feel better in a bit." He said, as they walked Ivy kept glancing at the students in awe. There were a lot of them in regular muggle clothes but some were already in the Hogwarts uniform. There were parents bidding their children goodbye, friends reuniting, students struggling with their luggage. It was all so lively, that Ivy didn't even noticed when Uncle Richard and Aunt Amy stopped by an empty compartment near the end of the train. Uncle Richard lugged Ivy's trunk into the compartment, tucked away neatly in a corner. Aunt Amy had come in as well, she took a seat and looked around. She seemed to be feeling better, her face was no longer pale and her eyes were curious. Ivy smiled and went to sit next to her, sharing in her wonderment.

"Alright, now that that's all settled." Uncle Richard said, he sat on Ivy's other side, squeezing her in between them, he put one arm around Aunt Amy and brought them all together. Ivy giggled and enjoyed the warmth, she breathed in Aunt Amy's subtle scent of books and coffee and Uncle Richard's sharp smell of peppermint and what she liked to think was magic.

"I'm gonna miss you guys." Ivy said, a content smile on her face.

"You're always welcome to stay with us, you know" Aunt Amy said, teasing. Ivy sprung from her spot, suddenly very energetic.

"Are you kidding? I'm not gonna miss you THAT much!" Ivy said, a large smile breaking on her face. She looked at her family, Uncle Richard's arm still around Aunt Amy and a spot just big enough for her in the middle, both of them smiling at their banter and she felt the homesickness hit again.

She looked out the window and saw a familiar face.

"Harry! Over here, let's sit together!" Ivy exclaimed, leaning out the open window, talking to the brunette that was outside the carriage. It seemed that she had startled him since he jumped, but at seeing her he broke out into a smile.

"Ivy, I was hoping to run into you." He said. He looked even smaller next to his trolley full with his trunk, his snowy owl sitting proudly on top of it all. He headed over and started to put his things into the carriage, passing Uncle Richard his owl.

He started to shove and heave his trunk toward the train door. He tried to lift it up the steps but could hardly raise one end and he dropped it on his foot. That had to hurt! Ivy rushed over to help him, but nearly tripped in her haste. Uncle Richard steadied her, laughing at her clumsiness and she hurried to the train door, but it seemed Harry had already gotten help.

A pair of red-haired twins were helping Harry with his trunk, Ivy quickly got out of their way, and they managed to tuck Harry's trunk next to Ivy's.

"Thanks." Harry said, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes.

"What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Harry's lightning scar.

"Blimey." Said the other twin. "Are you—?"

"He is." Said the other twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Harry.

"What?" said Harry.

"Harry Potter." Chorused the twins.

"Oh, him." Said Harry. "I mean, yes, I am." Ivy giggled at their antics.

The boys gawked at him and Ivy saw Harry turning pink. Then, a voice came floating in through the train's open door.

"Fred? George? Are you there?"

"Coming, Mom."

With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train. Harry looked relieved to be out of the spotlight, he turned towards Ivy and notice the other occupants of the room.

"Hello again, Harry. I hope you've been well." Uncle Richard said.

"Oh, hello! So you're the famous Harry Ivy told me about. I'm Amelia, Ivy's aunt, you may call me Amy if you'd like." Aunt Amy said, getting up to greet Harry. He looked a bit startled but managed to recover and introduce himself.

"Well darling, I think we've stayed long enough. Your aunt and I should get back now. Be good, and write often alright?" Uncle Richard said, going over to hug Ivy goodbye, he gave her a kiss on the forehead. Aunt Amy came as well and gave her a big hug. Harry looked away, feeling like he was intruding on a private moment.

"Oh! Before you go, let's take a picture." Ivy said, she took the camera off from around her neck and handed it to Harry. "Do you mind taking the picture, Harry?" Harry smiled and shook his head, taking the camera from Ivy. He waited until they were positioned, the three hugging with Ivy in the middle, smiling wide for the camera. After snapping the picture, he handed it back, watching as Ivy and her family admired the picture.

"Now one with Harry, can you take it, Uncle Richard?" Ivy said. Harry's eyes widened, surprised. Ivy came over and linked her arm through his, smiling at the camera. "Harry, smile!" He turned towards the camera and a smile broke through his surprise.

They bid goodbye to Uncle Richard and Aunt Amy once more and sat down, Harry taking the window with Ivy next to him.

"These came out nicely." Ivy said, handing the picture of them to Harry. His jaw dropped, there in the frame were a miniature Ivy and Harry, smiling wide at the camera, arms linked. But what surprised Harry was the fact that the picture was moving! Mini Ivy was laughing happily at the camera, waving excitedly and Harry was fidgeting nervously, a wide smile on his face.

"They're moving!" Harry exclaimed.

"Yeah, in the wizarding world all the pictures move, even the paintings. I was so amazed the first time I saw it that I looked at the same picture for over an hour, just to see what they would do." Ivy said, chuckling at Harry's amazement.

"Ron you've got something on your nose." They heard a voice through the window. They both looked up to see a red-haired family on the platform, the mother had just taken out her handkerchief.

The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose.

"Mom— geroff." He wriggled free.

"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins that had helped Harry.

"Shut up." Said Ron.

"Where's Percy?" said the mother.

"He's coming now."

An older boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes, uniform pristine underneath, they noticed a shiny silver badge on his chest with the letter P on it.

"Can't stay long, Mother." He said. "I'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves—"

"Oh, are you a prefect, Percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."

"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it." Said the other twin. "Once—"

"Twice—"

"A minute—"

"All summer—"

"Oh shut up." Said Percy the Prefect.

"How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" said one of the twins.

"Because he's a prefect." Said their mother fondly. "All right, dear, well, have a good term — send me an owl when you get there."

She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins.

"Now, you two — this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've— you've blown up a toilet or—"

"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."

"Great idea though, thanks, Mom."

"It's not funny. And look after Ron."

"Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."

"Shut up." Said Ron again. He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.

"Hey, Mom, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"

Harry leaned back quickly so the couldn't see him. Ivy chuckled at both the twins antics and Harry's reaction. She kept looking at the red-haired family, ignoring the slight glare Harry threw her way.

"You know the black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"

"Who?"

"Harry Potter!"

Harry and Ivy heard the little girl's voice.

"Oh, Mom, can I go on the train and see him, Mom, oh please…"

"You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Is he really, Fred? How do you know?"

"Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there — like lightning."

"Poor dear, no wonder he was alone, I wondered. He was ever so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform."

"Well, he didn't seem so alone when we saw him, he was with a girl, seemed to be another first year, maybe his friend. They were there with two adults as well." Said one of the twins.

"Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"

Their mother suddenly became very stern.

"I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school."

"Alright, keep your hair on."

A whistle sounded.

"Hurry up!" their mother said, and the three boys clambered onto the train. They leaned out the window for her to kiss them goodbye, and their younger sister began to cry.

"Don't cry, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat."

"George!"

"Only joking, Mom."

The train began to move. Harry and Ivy saw the boys' mother waving and their sister, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed, then she fell back and waved.

They watched the girl and her mother disappear as the train rounded the corner. Houses flashed past the window. Harry felt a great leap of excitement. He looked at Ivy, grinning and saw that her face matched his excitement.

The door to the compartment slid open and the youngest redheaded boy came in.

"Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing to the seat opposite Harry.

"Everywhere else is full."

Harry and Ivy both shook their heads and the boy sat down. He glanced at Harry and then quickly looked out the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Ivy stifled a giggle, and saw that he still had a black smudge on his nose.

"Hey, Ron."

The twins were back.

"Listen, we're going down to the middle of the train, Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."

"Right." Mumbled Ron.

"Harry," said the other twin. "Did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. And your friend is…?" he said, addressing Ivy sitting next to Harry.

"Ivy Walker, nice to meet you." Ivy said, smiling at the twins.

"Alright, see you later, then."

"Bye." All three said. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them.

"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out

Harry nodded.

"Oh. Well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes." Said Ron. "And have you really got — you know…"

He pointed at Harry's forehead.

Harry pulled back his bangs to show the lightning scar. Ron stared, even Ivy leaned forward curiously.

"So that's where You-Know-Who—"

"Yes." Said Harry. "But I can't remember it."

"Nothing?" said Ron eagerly. Ivy frowned at him with disapproval, but she had to admit even she was curious, it wasn't every day you met someone who survived the Killing Curse.

"Well, I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."

"Wow." Said Ron. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, but he snapped out of it when Ivy cleared her throat.

"Are all your family wizards?" asked Harry, who clearly found Ron just as interesting as Ron found him.

"Er— yes, I think so." Said Ron. "I think Mom's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."

"So you both must know loads of magic already."

"Not really, even though I've known about magic for a long time, I lived with Aunt Amy, she wanted me to have a regular childhood before going off to Hogwarts." Ivy said.

"I heard you went to live with Muggles, Harry. What are they like?" said Ron.

"Horrible. Well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers."

"Five." Said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left — Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep.

"His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff— I mean, I got Scabbers instead."

Ron's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out the window.

Ivy didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl, or anything at all really. It wasn't like she and Aunt Amy were struggling, but Aunt Amy made sure not to spoil Ivy, she never got her anything that she didn't need, outside of special occasions, or sometimes when she did exceptionally well in school. And she told Ron so.

"There's nothing wrong with that, I think it's much nicer that you have so many siblings. I'm an only child and only have one cousin in Germany that I almost never see. Besides, it looks like your family is really nice. As for measuring up to your brothers, don't worry so much about it, just be yourself and I'm sure your parents will be proud, no matter what." Ivy said, turning slightly pink from the sudden focus of Ron's gaze on her. She wasn't one to speak up too much, but she felt like she should cheer up the redhead.

Harry nodded, agreeing with her. He told them all about not having any money in his life until a month ago, about having to wear Dudley's old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up.

"…and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort."

Ron gasped.

"What?" said Harry.

"You said You-Know-Who's name!" said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. "I'd thought you, of all people—"

"I'm not trying to be brave or anything, saying his name." Said Harry. "I just never knew you shouldn't."

Ivy never quite understood the taboo of saying the name, but Uncle Richard said that people are still scared. It wasn't that long ago that the Dark Lord was still around and the constant fear from the days of the war still stuck with most people.

"I've got loads to learn…I bet…" Harry added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying him a lot lately. "I bet I'm the worst in the class."

"You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quickly enough." Ron said, trying to encourage his new friend.

"Yeah, don't worry about it, everyone basically starts from the bottom. And if anything, we can just help each other." Ivy said, giving Harry a wide smile.

While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lane flick past.

Around half past twelve, there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"

Harry and Ivy both got off their seats, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. In the corridor, they looked at the contents of the cart. Harry and Ivy were both a bit surprised to see that they recognized none of the candy.

The lady had Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands and a number of other strange things neither Harry nor Ivy had seen before. Not wanting to miss anything, they pooled some of their money together and got a bit of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.

Ron stared at them as they brought it all back in the compartment and tipped it onto the empty spot between them.

"Hungry, are you?" Ron said.

"Starving." Harry replied, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty. Ivy nibbled on one as well, and nodded.

"You shouldn't eat so fast if you hadn't have breakfast, Harry. You'll get a stomach ache." Ivy said, eating her pasty at a much slower rate.

Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside. He pulled one of them apart and said. "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."

"Swap you for one of these." Said Harry, holding up a pasty. "Go on."

"You don't want this, it's all dry." Said Ron. "She hasn't got much time, you know, with five of us." He added quickly.

"Ron, it's fine. There's more than enough for all of us, besides, you're the only one who knows what any of this is, so leave the sandwiches and have a pasty." Ivy said. Ron finally agreed and they sat there, eating their way through all the pasties, cakes, and candies.

"What are these?" Harry asked, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs.

"They're not really frogs, are they?" he said. Ivy who had been about to take a bite of one, looked up rather startled.

"No." Ron said. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."

"What?" both Harry and Ivy said, identical confused expressions.

"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know — Chocolate Frogs have cards, inside them, you know, to collect — famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."

Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. Ivy leaned over to see as well. It showed a man's face. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and mustache. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.

"So this is Dumbledore!" said Harry.

"Don't tell me you've never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron. "Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa— thanks." Ivy had passed him a frog and went to open her own.

"Oh, he's gone!" Harry exclaimed.

"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day." Said Ron. "He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her…do you want it? You can start collecting."

Ron handed the card to Harry. Ivy had gotten Circe, and she handed the card to Harry as well, she wasn't too interested in collecting them. Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped.

"Help yourself." Said Harry.

"You know, Ron. In the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos." Said Ivy.

"Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed. "Weird!"

Ivy couldn't help but breaking out into laughter.

Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, while Ivy read them and then handed them to Harry, but Harry couldn't keep his eyes off them. Soon he had not only Dumbledore, Morgana and Circe, but Hengist of Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion, Paracelsus, Merlin, and the druidess Cliodna. After finally tearing his eyes away from the cards, he opened a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

"You want to be careful with those." Ron warned. "When they say every flavor, they mean every flavor — you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a booger-flavored one once."

Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, and bit into a corner.

"Bleaaargh — see? Sprouts."

"Uhm, they only have the flavor right? Not the actual thing, cause I'm allergic to roses…" Ivy said, looking at the beans apprehensively. Ron assured her that the flavors were all artificial and he had never heard of anyone having an allergic reaction to a bean. Fears quelled, Ivy took a red bean and nibbled on it. Hm, strawberry.

They had a good time eating the Every Flavor Beans. Harry got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and was even brave enough to nibble on the end of a funny gray one Ron wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper. Ivy got strawberry, cherry, tuna, chicken, rice and grape, but she refused to touch any funny looking beans.

The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder, the neat fields gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills.

There was a knock on the door of their compartment and a round-faced boy came in, he looked rather tearful.

"Sorry, but have you seen a toad at all?" he said.

When they shook their heads, he wailed. "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"

"He'll turn up." Said Harry.

"Yes, well, if you see him…" said the boy miserably and left.

"Don't know why he's so bothered." Said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."

The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap.

"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference." Said Ron in disgust. "I tried turning him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look…"

He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end.

"Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway."

He had raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one." She said. Her voice was kind of bossy, she had lots of bushy hair and rather large front teeth.

"We've already told him we haven't seen it." Said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then."

She sat down next to Ron, who looked taken aback. Ivy was a bit awed at the girl's forwardness.

"Er— alright." Ron cleared his throat.

"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow. Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow." He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard. I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it'll be enough— I'm Hermoine Granger, by the way, who are you?" she said this all very fast.

Ivy was left gaping. Harry looked at Ron and Ivy, relieved to see they were just as stunned as he was.

"I'm Ron Weasley." Ron muttered.

"Ivy Walker." Ivy said, giving an awkward smile.

"Harry Potter." Said Harry.

"Are you really?" said Hermoine. "I know all about you, of course — I got a few extra books, for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."

"Am I?" said Harry, sounding dazed. Ivy didn't blame him, that was just over doing it.

"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me." Said Hermoine. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad…Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You three had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."

And she left, taking Neville, the toadless boy with her.

"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it." Said Ron.

"Oh, come on, don't be like that. I think she's probably just overexcited. You heard her, she's muggleborn, all this must be turning her head. Though I do think she's taking it a bit too far…"

"Maybe. Stupid spell — George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud." Ron said, throwing his wand back into his trunk.

"What house are your brothers in?" asked Harry.

"Gryffindor." Said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mom and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine they put me in Slytherin."

"Why would your parents disapprove of what house you get put in? I don't think the houses are inherently good or bad, it's more what kind of person you are that matters. Though I suppose Slytherin doesn't have the best reputation." Ivy said. She was finding all this house biased such nonsense. She didn't particularly care what house she was in, so long as she enjoyed her time there and her housemates were good people.

"That's the house Vol— I mean, You-Know-Who was in?" said Harry.

"Yeah, I don't suppose they'll get mad, exactly, it's more expectation, like I said, I've got a lot to live up to." Ron said, he flopped back into his seat, looking depressed.

"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit lighter." Harry said, clearly trying to change the subject. "So what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left, anyway?"

Now that Harry mentioned it, Ivy didn't know what a witch or wizard did once they left Hogwarts. She knew Uncle Richard was an Auror and her father was as well, but beyond working for the Ministry of Magic, she didn't know what other options were there.

"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts, he's a curse breaker." Said Ron. "Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don't suppose yo get that with the Muggles — someone tried to rob a high security vault."

Harry and Ivy stared. Uncle Richard had once told her that anyone would be mad to try and rob Gringotts, that it was basically the safest place in the country, what with all the enchantments, the twisting layout and the rumors of dragons…

"Really? What happened to them?"

"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get around Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it."

"It's probably just some fanatic, Harry's age is common knowledge, so I expect that with him entering Hogwarts this year, someone decided to pull some stupid stunt. Though trying to rob Gringotts… that's just plain suicidal."

At that they were silent for a bit until Ron decided to change the subject.

"What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked.

"Er— I don't know any." Harry confessed.

"What!" Ron looked dumbfounded, he turned towards Ivy but she just shrugged and shook her head. "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world—" and he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money. He was just taking Harry and Ivy through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville or Hermoine Granger this time.

Three boys entered, and Harry and Ivy recognized the middle one at once: it was the blond boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop. He was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley, completely ignoring the compartment's other occupants.

"Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?" he sounded just as unpleasant as he had back at the shop, if not more.

"Yes." Said Harry. He was looking at the other boys, and Ivy couldn't really blame him. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the blond boy, they looked like bodyguards.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle." Said the blond carelessly, noticing Harry's gaze. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Ivy raised an eyebrow, what was this, a James Bond movie? Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snicker. Draco Malfoy looked at him with such disdain that Ivy was taken aback.

"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." Malfoy said. Ivy's amusement quickly evaporated, replaced by indignation on her friend's behalf. How rude!

He turned back to Harry. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks." He said coolly. Malfoy turned and finally notice Ivy who was frowning at him, she wasn't quite angry yet, but she certainly didn't like Malfoy. He gave what she assumed was meant to be a charming smile but came out more condescending. Clearly he didn't remember her from Diagon Alley.

"And you are…?" he asked.

"Ivy Walker." She said, voice clipped. Malfoy offered his hand but she made no move to take it, didn't even glance at it.

Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks. He turned, addressing Harry once more.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter." He said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you, both." He finished, glancing at Ivy once again.

All three stood up at that. Now she was angry.

"Say that again." Ron said, his face as red as his hair.

"Oh, you're gonna fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.

"Unless you get out now." Said Harry, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than him or Ron.

Ivy simply stared at the three boys before her, eyes the color of ice, the warm blue lightened with anger. She had no illusions as to how things would go if a fight broke out, but she wasn't going to stand there and let her friends take the beating.

"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."

Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron — Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell.

Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle — Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once. Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, because a second later, Hermoine Granger had come in.

"What has been going on?" she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail.

"I think he's been knocked out." Ron said. He took a closer look at Scabbers. "No— I don't believe it — he's gone back to sleep." And so he had. Ivy couldn't help but break out into giggles.

"You have one amazing rat, Ron." She said, grinning.

"You've met Malfoy before?" Ron asked.

Harry explained how he and Ivy had met Malfoy in Diagon Alley.

"I've heard of his family." Ron said darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark side." He turned to Hermoine. "Can we help you with something?"

"You'd better hurry up and change into your uniforms, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll get in trouble before we even get there!"

"Scabbers has been fighting, not us." Said Ron, scowling at her. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"

"Alright — I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors." Said Hermoine in a sniffy voice. "Come on, Ivy, I'll show you to a restroom where you can change." She said. Ivy nodded and hurried to get her uniform. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?" Hermoine said, before leaving, ignoring Ron's glare.

Hermoine and Ivy chatted a bit on their way to the restroom, though Ivy had trouble keeping up with Hermoine's fast paced way of speaking. She seemed like a nice girl, if a bit uptight. Once in the restroom, Ivy quickly changed, remembering to keep her camera around her neck, and walked with Hermoine back to her compartment. They bid goodbye at the door, where Ivy knocked before getting the go-ahead from the boys inside.

Both boys were already in their uniforms, Ron's a bit shabby with use and his robes were a bit short on him, he still had the smudge on his nose, but Ivy thought it wise not to mention it again. Harry looked a bit uncomfortable in his uniform but he smiled at Ivy as she walked in. She put her old clothes in her trunk neatly, keeping her purse and camera with her, and took her seat next to Harry.

"Oh, Harry, your tie is a bit crooked, here, let me help." Ivy said, reaching forward to straighten Harry's tie. She noticed Ron's was the same and asked to do the same, at his nod she leaned forward and straightened it as well.

A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Ivy felt the flutter of nerves in her chest and she saw that Harry looked somewhat queasy, Ron looked pale under his freckles. The boys crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.

The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Ivy held on to Harry's sleeve so as not to get separated. Ivy shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Harry and Ivy heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' Years over here! Alright there, Harry? Hello again, Ivy."

Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.

"C'mon, follow me — any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Ivy figured that there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Ivy hear Neville sniff once or twice.

"Ye'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec." Harry called over his shoulder. "Jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Ooooh!"

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, it's windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers. It was such a beautiful sight, that Ivy couldn't resist snapping a picture. She quickly put the picture away in the purse.

"No more'n five to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Ivy, Harry and Ron were followed into their boat by Neville and Hermoine. "Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then — FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and neared to the cliff on which it stood.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto the rocks and pebbles.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.

"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hand. Ivy wandered how Neville knew it was his toad or indeed, how the toad got there at all. Maybe he had it on him the entire time without noticing? She shrugged and move on. They clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.

They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yet toad?"

Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.


	4. Chapter 4

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Ivy's first thought was that this was the Person Not to Cross.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall." Said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here.

Oh so she was the deputy headmistress. Definitely the Person Not to Cross.

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit Ivy's whole house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Ivy could her the murmur of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right, so the rest of the school must already be here, but Professor McGonagall showed them into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have, peering about nervously. Ivy tried not to get too squished between Harry and Ron.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." Said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while waiting."

Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. Harry was nervously trying to flatten his hair and Ivy fidgeted, tugging at her skirt and blouse, straightening her cloak and making sure her hair wasn't too tangled.

"I shall return when we are ready for you." Said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly." She left the chamber.

"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" he asked.

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."

"I wouldn't trust those two brothers of yours as far as I could throw them, Ron" Ivy said, remembering the dud spell. Ron looked like he wanted to say something, but knew he couldn't really defend his brothers in that aspect. She saw that Harry was getting increasingly more nervous.

"I'm sure that they won't test us, that would take too long, if they have to do it individually. Besides, it would be very unfair to the muggleborns and people like you and I who grew up with muggles." She said, trying to reassure her two friends.

Then something happened that made them jump about a foot in the air — several people behind them screamed.

"What the—?"

Ivy's jaw dropped. She heard several people gasp. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing, what looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance—"

"My dear Friar, haven't we give Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost — I say, what are you all doing here?" a ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.

Nobody answered.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

A few people nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old house, you know." Said the Friar

"Move along now." Said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

"Now, form a line, and follow me." Professor McGonagall told the first years.

Ivy nervously got into line, Harry in front of her and Ron behind, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

Ivy felt her breath leave her, she had never imagined a more wonderful place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there, among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Ivy looked towards the ceiling, trying to avoid all the staring eyes and trying to forget her panic. She saw Harry do the same and heard him gasp. Above them was a velvety black sky dotted with stars.

"I read that it's bewitched to look like the sky outside." Ivy whispered, behind them they heard Hermoine say the same to the girl next to her.

Even though she knew it wasn't real, it was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens.

They both quickly looked down as Professor McGonagall placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat, it was very patched and frayed and extremely dirty.

For a few seconds there was silence, everyone staring at the hat. Then it twitched. A rip near the brim opened like a wide mouth — and the hat began to sing:

"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

if you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folks use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered to them. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."

Ivy rolled her eyes, it was beyond her how Ron still took those brothers of his seriously. But she had to admit she was definitely relieved, she didn't fancy being judged in front of the entire school but at least now it was going to be somewhat silent. The anxiousness that had been lurking in the back of her head all month got just a bit stronger. Where would she fit? Ivy knew she was smart but she wouldn't say that was her most defining feature, she thought she was a fairly kind person, but would that be enough? She could be brave and cunning sometimes but certainly not enough to fit into Slytherin or Gryffindor. So where does she fit…?

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." She said.

"Abbot, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moments pause—

"HUFFLEPUFF!" Shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hanna went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan went off to sit next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW"

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

"Brocklhurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender" became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Ivy saw Ron's twin brothers catcalling.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin. The table on the far right clapped but their reaction was more subdued than the other tables.

"Flinch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Ivy noticed that the hat would sometimes shout the name of the house at once, but at others it took a little while. "Finnigan, Seamus" sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermoine!"

Hermoine almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Ron groaned.

Ivy noticed that Harry was becoming more and more pale, he looked as if he were going to be sick. Ivy discreetly took his hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Hey, it's gonna be alright. You belong here and no matter what, I'll still be your friend. Take a deep breath." Ivy whispered, trying to reassure him. She felt Harry squeeze her hand, nod and let go.

When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted "GRYFFINDOR" Neville ran off still wearing the hat, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag."

Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once. The hat had barely touched his head when it screamed. "SLYTHERIN!"

There weren't many people left now. "Moon" "Nott" "Parkinson" then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil" then "Perks, Sally-Anne" and then —

"Potter, Harry!"

As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fire all over the hall.

"Potter, did she say?"

"The Harry Potter?"

Harry sat on the stool for a very long time, nearly as long as Neville. He seemed to be arguing with himself over something. As the whispers became louder and louder, finally the hat shouted.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry received the loudest cheer yet, the whole Hall erupted into applause. Ivy and Ron joined in the cheers as well, Ivy grinning widely and Ron shouting himself hoarse. She saw Percy get up and shake Harry's hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins were yelling somethings she couldn't hear over all the noise.

And now there were only five people left to be sorted. "Thomas, Dean" a black boy, even taller than Ron, joined Harry at the Gryffindor table. "Tupin, Lisa" became a Ravenclaw and then, suddenly, it was Ivy's turn.

"Walker, Ivette!"

Ivy took a deep breath, she walked up to the stool, took the hat in shaky hands and put it on her head. It feel nearly to her nose, and Ivy was engulfed in darkness. Everything suddenly became hushed, and then a voice spoke.

"Hmm." The hat said. "How very tricky. I see plenty of intelligence, a healthy thirst for knowledge, you'd do very well in Ravenclaw. But I also see much kindness and patience, traits perfect for Hufflepuff. No where near enough ambition for Slytherin, sadly, you would have done well there. And there's bravery, of course, so much of it. It took you nearly all of it simply to sit here, in front of so many people, so many strangers…So, where to put you?"

Truthfully, Ivy would have been fine anywhere, but…she thought of her new friends, she thought of her past and what she hoped for the future. _Please put me where I can best grow, where I can finally overcome my fears._

"Ah…there's that courage I was talking about, seems you have more than I thought. The place you wish for is — GRYFFINDOR!" this last part was shouted out into the hall and there was a cheer from the Gryffindor table. Ivy took off the hat and walked on wobbly legs towards the table, but halfway she tripped and fell on hands and knees.

Her face burned as she heard laughter, but that was quickly forgotten when she looked up to see Harry run to help her up. She smiled at him, taking his hand and sitting next to him on the table. The Weasley twins waved at her, and Hermoine, who was sat across from her, asked if she was alright. Ivy assured her she was fine and turned to see Ron being sorted.

He was sat on the stool, face pale green by now, Ivy crossed her fingers in her lap, a second later the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry and Ivy both clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed into the chair on Harry's other side.

"Well done, Ron, excellent." Said Percy Weasley pompously from across Harry, next to Hermoine. Ivy turned to see "Zabini, Blaise" become a Slytherin, she caught his eye as he got off the stool. Out of reflex she sent him a smile and was happy to see him return it. Huh.

Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome." He said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here there are: Nitwit! Blubbler! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you."

He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry and Ivy exchanged bewildered looks, Ivy on the verge of laughter.

"Is he — a bit mad?" Harry asked Percy uncertainly.

"Mad?" said Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But yes, he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"

Ivy's jaw dropped once again. The dishes in front of them were now piled with food. She had never seen so many she liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.

Ivy had trouble deciding what to get. She saw Harry and Ron piling their plates with a bit of everything except the peppermints. She decided to get some pork chops, a bit of bacon and some boiled potatoes. She dug in and closed her eyes in delight. It was all delicious.

"That does look good." Said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Harry cut up his steak.

"Can't you—?" asked Harry.

"I haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years." Said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at you service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."

"I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me about you — you're Nearly Headless Nick!"

"I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy—" Sir Nicholas began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted.

"Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?"

Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted. Ivy privately wondered if it was wise to tick off a ghost.

"Like this." He said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was a hinge. (Ah. Clearly it wasn't a good idea to tick off a ghost, Ivy thought faintly.). Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back onto his neck (Thank Goodness), coughed, and said.

"So — New Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming unbearable — he's the Slytherin ghost."

Ivy looked towards the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. Ivy felt a shiver run down her back, and didn't blame Malfoy, who was sitting next to the Bloody Baron, for looking less than pleased with the seating arrangements.

"How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus with great interest.

"I've never asked." Said Sir Nicholas delicately.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate eclairs and jam donuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding and so much more.

Ivy ate dessert with much more gusto than her dinner, she helped herself to a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a few chocolate eclairs. The talk in the table had turned to families.

"I'm half-and-half." Said Seamus. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mom didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him." The others laughed.

"What about you, Neville?" said Ron

"Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch." Said Neville. "But the family thought I was all-Muggle for ages. My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off guard and force some magic out of me — he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned — but nothing happened until I was eight. Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced — all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faces when I got in here — they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad."

Ah, so the toad is important. Although Ivy was slightly concerned about Neville's story, no one else seemed to be, so she figured that this kind of thing was normal in the wizarding world. He seemed like a sweet kid, if a bit clumsy, and she could tell that he loved his family, so she shoved her concern away.

On her other side, Percy Weasley and Hermoine were talking lessons, but Ivy didn't want to think about that quite yet, so she tuned them out.

"What about you, Ivette?" Seamus had asked, bringing her back to the conversation about families.

"Please call me Ivy." She said, giving them a small smile. "And I'm half as well, although my mother knew about my dad being a wizard when they got married, but I grew up mainly Muggle, living with my Aunt Amy, she's my mother's sister. My Uncle Richard is my godfather, and he's a wizard, he works as an Auror." Ivy said. The others nodded and the conversation moved on. It seemed no one would ask of her parents, but if Neville's case was any indication, this wasn't unusual either. She supposed it wouldn't be, there _was_ a war raging not that long ago.

"Ouch!" Harry said, clapping a hand to his head.

"Are you alright?" Ivy asked.

"Y-yeah." He said. He turned to Percy. "Who's the teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" He asked.

"Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to — everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."

Ivy turned to the teacher's table to see a nervous young man with his head covered in what looked like a turban, speaking, rather nervously at that, to a dark haired teacher, his hair looked very greasy, he had a hooked nose, and sallow skin. Simply put, he had a very mean look.

Turning away from the teacher's table, a thought occurred to Ivy, she should take a picture of the Great Hall, it looked so very beautiful. She went to get up, making sure her camera was still safely around her neck. Harry gave her a questioning look but she only smiled in reassurance, pointing to her camera as an explanation. She walked towards the great wooden doors that led out of the Hall and turned, camera positioned. Ignoring some quizzical looks sent her way, Ivy snapped the picture before she gave in to her embarrassment, running back to her table. She hesitated at the head of the table, quickly asked if it was ok for her to take a picture to the people closest to her, they seemed to all be upperclassmen.

At this point everyone in the Gryffindor table seemed to have caught on, as everyone started smiling and posing, the Weasley twins standing out in their ridiculously flamboyant poses. Ivy giggled and took a picture, scurrying back to her seat, only tripping once on the way.

At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The Hall fell silent.

"Ahem — just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember as well."

Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Ivy felt a chill go down her back, and heard Harry and a few other laugh.

"He's not serious?" Harry muttered to Percy.

"Must be." Said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere — the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least." He said, it might have been Ivy, but the last part was said a bit sulkily.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Ivy raised an eyebrow, noticing that the teachers smiles suddenly became very fixed.

Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

"Everyone pick their favorite tune, and off we go!" said Dumbledore. The school bellowed:

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,  
Teach us something please,  
Whether we be old and bald,  
Or young with scabby knees,  
Our heads could do with filling,  
With some interesting stuff,  
For now they're bare and full of air,  
Dead flies and bits of fluff,  
So teach us things worth knowing,  
Bring back what we've forgot,  
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,  
And learn until our brains all rot.

Everyone finished the song at different times. At last only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.

"Ah, music." He said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

The Gryffindor first years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Ivy was feeling so drowsy, so tired from the days excitement and with her stomach full, she didn't really take notice of the people in the portraits along the corridors, whispering and pointing as they passed, she didn't pay attention when Percy led them twice through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet, and Ivy was just wondering how much farther they had to go when they came to a sudden halt.

A bundle of walking stick was floating in midair ahead of them, and as Percy took a step toward them they started throwing themselves at him. Well, that certainly woke Ivy up.

"Peeves." Percy whispered to the first years. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice. Peeves — show yourself."

A loud, rude noise, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.

"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"

There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.

"Ooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!"

He swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked.

"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy.

Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armor as he passed. Ivy went to check on Neville, but besides being a bit dazed and startled, he seemed fine.

"You want to watch out for Peeves." Said Percy, as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects." Again, the snooty tone returned. "Here we are."

At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she said.

"Caput Draconis." Said Percy, and the portrait swung open forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it — Neville and Ivy both needing a leg up — and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.

Percy directed the girls through on door to their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase — they were obviously in one of the towers — they found their beds at last: five four posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. Ivy took the second bed to the right, not wanting to be next to the door but she could enjoy the window on the other side. Hermoine took the first bed, the other two girls, who had been chattering non-stop, took the two opposite beds, leaving an empty bed between them.

Ivy bid goodnight to Hermoine and the girls after changing to her pajamas, soft cotton pants and an over-sized T-shirt she had stolen from Uncle Richard. Too tired to try and keep a conversation, she was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

The next day, Ivy was the first to wake, the light from the window hitting her face. She had forgotten to draw the curtains the night before. She sat up on the bed, still half-asleep, gave a nice, long stretch, and got up. She went to her trunk, sitting at the foot of her bed and took out a fresh school uniform, her towel and her toiletries, which she had packed in a small square basked, the inside lined with white cloth. She headed toward the adjoined bathroom, brushed her teeth, took a warm shower and dressed for the day. She brushed the tangles from her long hair and decided to put them in twin braids.

When she exited the bathroom, Hermoine was already up while the other girls, Lavender and Parvati, she believed, were still in bed, their curtains drawn.

"Good morning, Hermoine." Ivy said, going to put away her toiletries.

"Good morning, Ivy. I'm very excited for our first lessons, do you mind terribly waiting for me so we can go to the Great Hall together?" Hermoine said, her voice still somewhat hurried and tone still bossy. Ivy figured it was just her normal tone of voice. She looked at the clock hanging on the wall, and saw that it was only 7:15, the boys were probably still asleep.

"Sure, go ahead." Ivy said, sending Hermoine a smile. She began picking up her things, taking her new soft brown leather knapsack, and began to fill it with the things she would need today. She left all her books, as they still didn't have any time tables, but she put in a few rolls of parchment, some quills and her black ink. She also put in a black bound notebook she had brought and her old blue pencil case. She got up and made her bed.

She looked around their round room, much nicer looking in the warm morning light. She decided to take her camera, went towards the door, where she had a clear view of most of the room and snapped a shot. Going back to her trunk, she took out the purse she had used the day before and the scrapbook Aunt Amy had gifted her, she also took out the box of scrapbooking supplies they had given her to get her started.

Sitting on the bed, she opened to the title page, taking a quill, she wrote:

Ivette Primrose Walker

Hogwarts, First Year

After waiting a moment for the ink to dry, she turned the page and took the pictures she had taken the day before and started taping them in. First the shot Harry had taken, in it were Aunt Amy, Uncle Richard and Ivy, hugging and smiling, she could see students milling around through the window in the background. Next to it she taped the picture of Harry and herself. Bellow that she taped the ticket for the Hogwarts Express. On the top of the page she wrote: _Journey to Hogwarts._

On the next page, she taped the picture she had taken of the castle the night before, the stars still glittering above the castle. Next to that picture she placed the picture of the Great Hall, all the students were chatting excitedly, eating their desserts, some would occasionally look towards the camera quizzically, some waved. Bellow both pictures she taped the picture of the Gryffindor table, everyone smiling and waving, she could see the Weasley twins making silly faces towards the camera. On this page she wrote: _Sorting Ceremony: Gryffindor!_

As she closed her scrapbook, she saw Hermoine exiting the bathroom, hair slightly less bushy than last night, school uniform pristine. She went to put away her scrapbook, but kept her camera around her neck, as Hermoine picked up her things. Parvati and Lavender were just getting up as they exited the dorm room and Ivy waved goodbye.

Down in the common room, there were already a few students up an about, but Ivy and Hermoine seemed to be the only first years there. They saw Percy pinning a list of rules to the notice board and decided to go say hello. Ivy took the chance to ask if it would be alright to take her camera with her during the day.

"Well, there's no rule against it, but don't use it during class or you'll get scolded." He said. Ivy smiled in understanding. They asked directions towards the Great Hall and after a rather long explanation, which Ivy wouldn't ever be able to remember, they set off. Along the way they encountered plenty of students and ended up simply following a small group of Ravenclaw third years into the Great Hall.

The Hall was already filling up with students, Ivy and Hermoine sat down at the Gryffindor table and began to eat their breakfast, Hermoine had some porridge and Ivy took a few pieces of toast with strawberry jam. About halfway through breakfast Ron and Harry came in and sat down across from them, greeting Ivy and Hermoine, though Ron had a rather sour face at seeing Hermoine.

There was a great clattering and Ivy looked up to see about a hundred owls suddenly streamed into the Great Hall, circling the tables until they saw their owners, and dropping letters and packages onto their laps. Einri dropped down into the table next to Ivy, he had no letter with him but she didn't expect him to, she'd have to send him to Aunt Amy first. She fed him a bit of toast and went to refill her glass of milk, but Einri stopped her with a big claw on her hand. Ivy looked at him strangely, putting her hand down, he removed his claw. She went again for the milk and again was stopped by a claw on her hand. And then it dawned on her. She groaned, putting her head down on the table.

"What's wrong?" Hermoine asked. She and the other students seated nearby had been staring at the spectacle rather oddly.

"Uncle Richard trained him. Usually I'm not allowed a second glass of milk at breakfast, cause last time it had upset my stomach. He must have trained Einri to not let me do it." Ivy said, pouting at Einri, maybe she could retrain him…

She heard the surrounding students give a couple of chuckles, but otherwise, no one really paid much attention to them.

After breakfast, the real adventure began. They had to find their way to classes.

There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, and Ivy suspected some coats of armor could walk.

Asking the ghosts was a gamble. It was always a nasty shock when one of them glided suddenly through a door you were trying to open. Sir Nicholas was always happy to point new Gryffindors in the right direction but Peeves the Poltergeist was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase if you met him. He would drop wastepaper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech "GOT YOUR CONK!" Neville was one of his most frequent victims, and Ivy and Hermoine, who had taken to going around together, would often rescue him and accompany him to class.

Even worse than Peeves, if that was possible, was the caretaker, Argus Filch. Harry and Ron had told Ivy how they had managed to get on the wrong side of him through a door that unluckily turned out to be the entrance to the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor.

Filch owned a cat called Mrs. Norris, a scrawny, dust-colored creature with bulging, lamp like eyes just like Filch's. She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, two seconds later. Filch knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone (except perhaps the Weasley twins) and could pop out as suddenly as any ghosts. The students all hated him, and it was the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs. Norris a good kick.

And then, once you managed to find them, there were the classes themselves. There was a whole lot involved in the study of magic.

Every Wednesday at midnight, they would go up to the tallest tower and study the night skies through their telescopes and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Three times a week, they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, where they learned to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found what they were used for. This was one of Ivy's favorite classes and she often paired up with Neville, who seemed to enjoy the class just as much as she did.

Easily the most boring class was History of Magic, which was the only one taught by a ghost. Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up the next morning to teach, leaving his body behind. Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates, and got Emeric the Evil and Ulric the Oddball mixed up. Ivy had been right that this would be her most difficult class, if only because of the sheer boredom Professor Binns induced.

Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class he took roll call, and when he reached Harry's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight.

Professor McGonagall was again different, Ivy had been right to name her the Person not to Cross. Strict and clever, she gave them a talking-to the moment they sat down in her first class.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts." She said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time. After taking a lot of complex notes, the were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. By the end of the lesson, Hermoine had made the most difference to her match; Professor McGonagall showed the class how is had gone all silver and pointy and gave Hermoine a rare smile. Ivy's own match simply turned silver, but she wasn't too disappointed with her progress, it was after all, only the first day.

The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story. For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather, for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell would be protected wherever he went.

Finally, Friday rolled around. Harry and Ron had been very proud that they had managed to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost once. Ivy had already gotten used to the routes as Hermoine had excellent memory and hadn't gotten lost since Wednesday.

At breakfast, Harry and Ron had sat across from Hermoine and Ivy as they've accustomed to, despite how Ron and Hermoine felt about it. The two had been worse than cats and dogs since the first day, but they put up with it for Harry and Ivy, who were fast becoming very good friends. Ivy couldn't say she was as fond as Ron as she was of Harry, she hated seeing how he treated her friend, but refused to get in the middle for fear of disrupting the tentative peace they had built…by completely ignoring the other.

"What have we got today?" Harry asked as he poured sugar on his porridge.

"Double potions with the Slytherins." Said Ron. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favors them — we'll be able to see if it's true."

"Wish McGonagall favored us." Said Harry. Professor McGonagall was Head of Gryffindor House, but it hadn't stopped her from giving them a huge pile of homework the day before.

"At least I've heard he's a decent Potions teacher, maybe it won't be so bad." Ivy said, biting into her pancakes. Next to her, Hermoine was quietly eating porridge, almost obsessively going over her Potions book.

Just then, the mail arrived. Einri and Hedwig landed on the table in front of them, Einri with a letter from home for Ivy, he stayed at the table even after she took the letter and gave him some toast, watching Ivy as he'd done since the first day, there had been no progress in his retraining and Ivy had given up. Hedwig hadn't brought anything so far for Harry, though she often came to visit, but today she dropped a note onto Harry's plate. He tore it open. He took a minute to read it and borrowed Ron's quill, scribbling something on the back of the note and sent Hedwig off again.

"Hagrid's invited me for tea this afternoon, want to come?" Harry asked. Ron nodded, thankfully not replying as he had a mouthful of bacon at the moment. Ivy declined, as she had already planned to spend her afternoon with Hermoine at the library.

The Potions lesson turned out to be the worst thing that had happened all week.

Potions lesson took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.

Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name.

"Ah, yes." He said softly. "Harry Potter. Our new — celebrity." Ivy frowned at that, that was entirely unnecessary.

Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels. Ivy got the impression that Professor Snape was a very bitter, lonely man.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking." He began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word — Like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses…I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death — if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

More silence followed his little speech. Ivy caught Harry and Ron exchanging glances with raised eyebrows and saw Hermoine sitting on the edge of her seat, no doubt desperate to prove that she was capable of learning all he had to teach. Ivy simply sat there, despite what Percy had said the night of the feast, Professor Snape seemed to truly enjoy Potions, his professionalism however, left much to be desired from Ivy. Who called their class a bunch of dunderheads?

"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry looked very confused. Hermoine's hand shot into the air, and Ivy raised her hand more calmly.

"I don't know, sir." Said Harry

Snape's lips curled into a sneer.

"Tut, tut — fame clearly isn't everything." He ignored both Hermoine's and Ivy's hands. Ivy felt indignation bubble in the pit of her stomach. He wasn't….

"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find a bezoar?"

Hermoine stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without leaving her seat, Ivy kept her hand raised, no change in her expression. She could see Harry slowly wilting in embarrassment and Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle shaking with laughter.

"I don't know, sir."

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" Snape sneered. He still ignored Hermoine's quivering hand and Ivy's steady one. She felt the indignation rise. Snape was purposely ridiculing Harry, and that's something she would not stand for, much less from a teacher. How dare he! Had he no sense of shame at all, picking on a kid?

"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

At this, Hermoine stood up, her hand stretching toward the dungeon ceiling. Ivy lowered her hand, this was no longer a lesson in her eyes, just a man bullying a child. She straighten her back and raised her chin in her anger, she would not back down to that bully.

"I don't know" said Harry quietly. "I think Hermoine knows, though, why don't you try her?"

A few people laughed. Snape was not pleased.

"Sit down." He snapped at Hermoine. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"

Ivy took out her parchment and quill, and wrote it down, just for the sake of not calling attention. Over the rummaging for quills and parchment, Snape said. "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter."

Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except for Malfoy, whom he seemed to like. He didn't say anything about Hermoine and Ivy, she felt only since he had nothing he could criticize, so he largely ignored them. He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.

"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with a wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"

Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose. Was this really the best time for him to be scolding Neville? Ivy thought, the simmering indignation that had been building inside her chest slowly blooming into anger.

"Take him up to the hospital wing." Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville.

"You — Potter — why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."

This was so unfair that Ivy opened her mouth to argue, but Hermoine stopped her, shaking her head quickly. She saw Ron do the same to Harry, whispering to him.

As they climbed the steps out of the dungeon an hour later, Ivy noticed Harry looking rather down, no doubt thinking about the awful way Snape had treated him.

"Cheer up." Said Ron. "Snape's always taking points off Fred and George."

They said goodbye at the Great Hall after lunch, as Ron and Harry went off to see Hagrid and Ivy and Hermoine headed back to the common room to pick up their things and headed off to the library. They were going to review the lessons for the week and get a head start on their homework.

The library was a lovely place, filled with the quiet rustling of pages being turned, the bookshelves reached the ceiling, all ordered neatly and kept that way by the librarian, Madam Pince, who was a rather sour-faced witch who would kick out anyone and everyone who would dare disrupt the order in her library.

Ivy and Hermoine chose an out of the way table, next to a window, took out their books and began to work. They began by comparing notes. Ivy had written her class notes in pieces of parchment, but she planned to pass them all to her notebooks so she could have a concise source to study from later on. Hermoine preferred to organize her already existing notes, adding from the book as well, but unlike Ivy who wrote only key words and definitions, excepting Transfiguration, she wrote everything down.

They worked for an hour, quietly talking every now and then to ask about something. Ivy had just finished yesterday's Transfiguration notes when someone sat down on the table next to theirs. Ivy looked over out of curiosity, it was a Slytherin first year, a dark skinned boy with high cheekbones and slanted eyes, semi-long black hair. He looked over at Ivy and Hermoine, who was too concentrated to bother looking up, and gave a nod in greeting. Ivy returned it with a smile and went back to her notes.

After finishing their notes they got started on the rather large pile of Transfiguration homework they had. They gave it a rest after getting half-way through, Ivy finally convincing Hermoine that they didn't _need_ to finish it that day, they had all weekend for that. As they went to walk out, Ivy gave a small wave to the boy still seated at the table, he seemed to be doing Charms homework, he returned her wave.

This would mark the first of many encounters of similar nature that Ivy and Blaise Zabini would have throughout the year.


	5. Chapter 5

**Standard Disclaimer:**

I don't own Harry Potter!

 **Chapter 5:**

Things continued on much in the same way during their first weekend at Hogwarts, Ivy went around with Hermoine near constantly now, talking about classes and their lives back home. Hermoine's parents were dentists and she confessed that she found them rather boring, so when she got her Hogwarts letter she was more than excited to dive into a new and strange world. Ivy told her about growing up with Aunt Amy and Uncle Richard, how she never quite managed to make friends at her school, and how she had been looking forward to coming to Hogwarts since she could read her father's books.

Ivy also took Saturday to wander around the castle unhindered by the need to get to class, she went around, marveling at the pure beauty and strangeness of the castle. She also took that chance to photograph her favorite parts of the castle. First she went around to all the classrooms, which were surprisingly open even on a weekend, and photographed each one, then she made her way to the owlery, on one of the towers. The place smelled strongly of bird excrement and dead mice, but Ivy took a picture anyways, focusing on Einri who was perched on a windowsill with Hedwig. She wondered if they had become friends. She gave her letter to Aunt Amy to Einri and sent him out, watching him for a long time afterward.

Next, Ivy went down by the lake, where she saw a lot of students lounging about, enjoying the last of the year's good weather. She photographed the lake, even getting a peek of the giant squid that lived in there. Then she turned to the castle, to take a picture from that angle. She loved how the castle looked, it was like something out of a fairytale.

At lunch she sat with Hermoine at her side and Ron and Harry across from them, as had become their custom. As usual, Hermoine and Ron pretended the other was not there, making conversation with everyone else. Ivy and Harry simply shared their day's happenings, Harry telling Ivy about Hagrid's strange behavior the day before, and Ivy relaying her less exciting afternoon and showing Harry the picture she had taken that morning (Harry and Ron had chosen to sleep in).

The rest of the weekend went on in the same vibe, Ivy and Hermoine finishing their left over homework and then spending their Sunday afternoon watching Ron and Harry hurry through theirs.

Ivy had never met someone quite as unpleasant as Draco Malfoy. He was rude, arrogant and a coward, never going anywhere without those two goons he called friends. Luckily for Ivy, and Harry who hated Malfoy with passion (and obviously, the feeling was mutual), Gryffindor first years only had Potions with the Slytherins, so they didn't have to put up with Malfoy much. Until flying lessons were announced. Of course, Gryffindors and Slytherins would be learning together starting on Thursday.

"Typical." Said Harry darkly. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."

Harry had confessed to Ivy in the common room the night before, when rumors of the flying lesson had started flying around, that he had been looking forward to learning to fly more than anything else.

"You don't know that you'll make a fool of yourself." Said Ron reasonably. "Anyways, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet he's all talk.

Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a lot. He complained loudly about first years never getting on the house Quidditch teams and told long, boastful stories that always seemed to end with him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters. Ivy noticed he wasn't along though, all the wizard-raised boys seemed to go crazy at the mention of flying and Quidditch, no mention could be made without someone telling some (obviously exaggerated) story about their capabilities in flying and Quidditch. To the point where Ron and Dean Thomas had an argument about soccer. Ron couldn't see what was exciting about a game with only one ball where no one was allowed to fly.

Neville seemed to be the only boy who never talked about flying, as he had never been on a broomstick in his life, because his grandmother had never let him near one. Privately, Harry and Ivy felt she had good reason, as Neville managed to have an extraordinary amount of accident even with both feet on the ground. Ivy never thought she would meet someone clumsier than herself, and even though she tripped at least 5 times a day, she managed to keep her balance for the most part.

Ivy herself was excited for the lesson, though quite nervous as well, but she wouldn't let that stop her from having fun. It wasn't like she could be terrible at it, and they were going to be under supervision. Although Aunt Amy had been understandably concerned when she learned about the lessons, she simply told Ivy to be careful. Uncle Richard simply said that the more she worried the worst she'd do, so might as well have fun with it.

Hermoine was almost as nervous about flying as Neville was. This wasn't something you couldn't learn by heart out of a book — not that she hadn't tried. At breakfast on Thursday she wouldn't stop reading flying tips out of a book call Quidditch Through the Ages. Neville was hanging on to her every word, desperate for anything that might help him hang on to his broomstick later. Ivy finally had had enough.

"Hermoine, stop. You're just making yourself and everyone else nervous. Just relax. It's perfectly fine to learn as you go through the lesson, that _is_ what the lesson is for, after all." Ivy said, forcefully taking the book from Hermoine and practically ordering her to quiet down and eat her breakfast. She saw everyone's grateful looks at the blissful silence, but it hadn't been necessary as the mail arrived at that moment.

Harry hadn't received a single letter since Hagrid's note, something that Malfoy had been quick to notice, of course. Malfoy's eagle owl was always bringing him packages of sweets from home, which he opened gloatingly at the Slytherin table. Ivy had noticed that many of the Slytherins were about as impressed with Malfoy as she was, which was to say, not at all. He had built his little group, mainly consisting of the meanest of the Slytherin first years, but all the others were either indifferent to him or disgusted by his arrogance.

A barn owl brought Neville a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke.

"It's a Remembrall!" he explained. "Gran knows I forget things — this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red — oh…." His face fell, because the Remembrall had suddenly glowed scarlet.

"You've forgotten something…"

Neville was trying to remember what he'd forgotten when Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Remembrall out of his hand.

Harry and Ron jumped to their feet. They were half hoping for a reason to fight Malfoy, but Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any other teacher in the school, was there in a flash.

"What's going on?"

"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor."

Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table.

"Just looking." He said, and he sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.

At three-thirty that afternoon, Ivy, Hermoine, Harry, Ron, and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance. Ivy stopped briefly to take a picture of the view.

The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Ivy had heard Fred and George Weasley complain about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left.

Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

Ivy glanced down at her broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at weird angles. She didn't know how to feel about that except for a vague concern about the school's equipment funds.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom." Called Madam Hooch at the front. "And say 'Up!'"

"Up!" everyone shouted.

Ivy's broom came up halfway but then it simply dropped down, as if it weren't worth the effort. She saw that Harry's broom was one of the few that jumped straight into his hand. Hermoine's simply rolled over, and Neville's hadn't moved at all. Huh. Maybe Uncle Richard was on to something about the worrying thing.

Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Ivy felt the satisfaction practically radiate from half the class when Madam Hooch told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard." Said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, ride a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle — three — two —"

But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.

"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle — twelve feet — twenty feet. Ivy saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and —

WHAM— a thud and nasty crack and Neville lay face-down on the grass in a heap. His broomstick was still rising higher and higher, and started to drift lazily toward the forbidden forest and out of sight.

Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as white as his.

"Broken wrist." Ivy heard her mutter. "Come on, boy — it's all right, up you get."

She turned to the rest of the class.

"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear"

Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him.

No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter.

"Did you see his face, the great lump?"

Some of the Slytherins joined in.

"Shut up, Malfoy." Snapped Parvati Patil.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. "Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati."

"Didn't know you had to like someone to feel concern for them, Parkinson." Ivy said, she couldn't control her anger. Neville was a sweet boy, if very clumsy, he didn't deserve to be made fun of like that. Pansy gave her a nasty glare, but Ivy only gave her an unimpressed look.

"Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's Gran sent him."

The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.

"Give that here, Malfoy." Said Harry quietly. Everyone stopped talking to watch.

Malfoy smiled nastily.

"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find — how about — up a tree?"

"Give it here!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he could fly well. Hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called. "Come and get it, Potter!"

Harry grabbed his broom.

"No!" shouted Hermoine. "Madam Hooch told us not to move — you'll get us all into trouble." Personally Ivy agreed, but not out of a sense of keeping the rules, but simply because Malfoy was a bully and he thrived on attention, he just wasn't worth the effort. Nor the danger, what would he do if he fell…

Harry ignored her. He mounted his broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up he soared. He was a natural, to say the least. He pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher, and Ivy heard screams and gasps from the girls and an admiring whoop from Ron. Ivy wouldn't take her eyes off him, a nagging fear plaguing her.

He turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in midair. Malfoy looked stunned. Their mouths moved but it was too far to hear them. Harry suddenly leaned forward and shot toward Malfoy like a javelin. Malfoy only just got out of the way in time; Harry made a sharp about-face. A few people clapped.

More talking and then Malfoy was throwing the Remembrall high into the air, Ivy lost sight of it. Harry didn't. He streaked down after it, gathering speed in a steep dive. Ivy felt her heart jump into her throat. He stretched out his hand. A foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and toppled gently onto the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in his fist. Ivy felt the breath she didn't know she was holding leave her all at once, but the relief didn't last.

"HARRY POTTER!"

Professor McGonagall was running toward them. Harry got to his feet, trembling.

"Never— in all my time at Hogwarts—"

Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously. "— how dare you — might have broken your neck—"

"It wasn't his fault, Professor—"

"Be quiet, Miss Patil."

"But Malfoy—"

"That's enough, Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me. Now."

Harry walked slowly in Professor McGonagall's wake, looking shell-shocked. Ivy caught Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle's triumphant faces as he left. She was left feeling empty after the sudden succession of events, but seeing Malfoy's smug face ignited the anger in her. As soon as Professor McGonagall and Harry were out of sight, Malfoy's little clique burst into laughter. Ron went to him, his face scarlet with fury, but Seamus and Dean held him back by the shoulders.

"What are you gonna do, Weasley? Get expelled as well?" Malfoy said, smug. His friends looked just as smug behind him. Ivy really wanted to do something, anything, to wipe that stupid look off his face but…

"Forget it, Ron. He's not worth it." Ivy said, placing a hand on Ron's shoulder. She gave Malfoy a frosty look and felt some satisfaction at seeing him falter in surprise. He seemed to be gearing up to say something in return but just then Madam Hooch came back and quickly got the class in order.

At dinner time, Harry was back in the table, looking much better than when he had left. He was telling Ron something in quick whispers when Ivy and Hermoine arrived to dinner. Ron had a piece of steak and kidney pie halfway to his mouth but he seemed to have forgotten about it.

When Ivy and Hermoine sat down, in their usual spot in front of Harry and Ron, they had already finished speaking.

"Everything good?" Ivy asked. Harry nodded, a happy look on his face. Ivy let the subject drop, if he wanted to share more, then he would. Hermoine didn't look at all pleased with that though, and Ivy could understand. It wasn't from any sense of ill will towards Harry, more at the fact that he clearly got away with breaking the rules.

Fred and George Weasley came into the hall, spotted Harry, and hurried over.

"Well done." Said George in a low voice. "Wood told us. We're on the team too — Beaters."

"I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year." Said Fred. "We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us."

"Anyway, we've got to go, Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school."

"Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you."

Fred and George had hardly disappeared when someone far less welcome turned up: Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.

"Having a last meat, Potter? When are you getting on the train back to the Muggles?"

"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you." Said Harry coolly. There was of course nothing at all little about Crabbe and Goyle, but as the High Table was full of teachers, neither of them could do more than crack their knuckles and scowl.

"I'd take you on anytime on my own." Said Malfoy. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only — no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"

Oh no…. Ivy could already see where this was going.

"Of course he has." Said Ron, wheeling around. "I'm his second, who's yours?"

Malfoy looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up.

"Crabbe." He said, "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; that's always unlocked."

When Malfoy had gone, Ron and Harry looked at each other. "What is a wizard's duel?" said Harry. "And what do you mean, you're my second?"

"Well, a second's there to take over if you die." Said Ron casually, getting started at last on his cold pie. Catching the look on Harry's and Ivy's face, he added quickly. "But people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most you and Malfoy'll be able to do is send sparks at each other. Neither of you know enough magic to do any real damage. I bet he expected you to refuse, anyway."

"And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?" said Harry, looking skeptical

"Throw it away and punch him on the nose" Ron suggested.

"I don't think it's a good idea, Harry. Malfoy probably just wants to get you in trouble, you know we're not supposed to be out after curfew." Ivy said, finally voicing her thoughts.

"That's right! You mustn't go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you."

"And it's really none of your business." Said Harry.

"Goodbye." Said Ron.

Ivy looked taken aback, she only wanted to help. Beside her, Hermoine gave an angry huff and stood to go sit somewhere else. Ivy frowned at the boys and followed after her.

All through dinner, Ivy couldn't stop worrying about the duel. She went up to the common room and attempted to review for Potions tomorrow but her worry wouldn't let her. At nine she decided to go up to bed. She went into the bathroom to brush her teeth, wash her face and put on her pajamas. She took her hair down from the ponytail she had worn that day and brushed it out. When she left the bathroom she decided to update her scrapbook, maybe that would get her mind off the duel.

At 11:15 Ivy was ready to turn in for the night, but she noticed something odd. Hermoine was sneaking out of her bed, making her way to the door. Ivy had a feeling she knew what she was going to do, so she followed after her, not bothering with bathrobe as Hermoine had done. She put on her black fluffy slipper and went after Hermoine.

"What are you gonna do, Hermoine?" Ivy asked as the went down the stairs into the common room.

"I'm going to stop them, I should have told Percy, but I missed the chance so I have to stop them. They're going to lose us loads of points." Hermoine said as they walked into the dark common room. It wasn't as welcoming now that it was dark and empty. Ivy heaved a sigh but she made no move to stop her friend, truthfully she was also worried, not for the points but Harry's well-being, he had already gotten in trouble today, she didn't think they would be as lenient as they had apparently been this afternoon.

Roughly fifteen minutes later, Ivy heard someone coming down from the boys' dormitory. Hermoine turned on the lamp a big scowl on her face.

"You!" said Ron furiously. "Go back to bed!"

"I almost told your brother." Hermoine snapped. "Percy — he's a prefect, he'd put a stop to this."

Harry and Ron gave Hermoine incredulous looks. They turned to Ivy, but she simply frowned at them.

"She's right, you know. You're both being silly, letting your rivalry with Malfoy take you this far. He probably won't even be there." Ivy said. She was still a bit miffed at them for dismissing her concerns at dinner.

"Come on" Harry said to Ron. He pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the hole.

Hermoine wasn't going to give up that easily. She followed Ron through the portrait, leaving Ivy no choice but to follow along.

"Don't you care about Gryffindor, do you only care about yourselves, I don't want Slytherin to win the house cup, and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells."

"Go away" said Ron. They were out into the hall now, the portrait having swung shut behind Ivy.

"Alright, but I warned you, you just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so—" but Hermoine didn't finish scolding them, as she turned to go back inside she found herself facing an empty painting. Oh no… they were locked out of Gryffindor tower.

"Now what are we going to do?" Hermoine asked shrilly.

"That's your problem." Said Ron. "We've got to go, we're going to be late."

Ron and Harry set off, Ivy looked at Hermoine, who had a miffed and determined look on her face. Ivy resigned herself for a long night. They caught up to Ron and Harry at the end of the corridor.

"We're coming with you." Hermoine said.

"You are not."

"Do you think we'll just stand out here and wait for Filch to catch us? If he finds us, I'll tell him the truth, that Ivy and I were trying to stop you, and you can back me up."

"You've got some nerve—" said Ron loudly.

"Hush, both of you" Ivy said suddenly. "I heard something."

It was a sort of snuffling

"Mrs. Norris?" breather Ron, squinting through the dark.

It wasn't Mrs. Norris, it was Neville. He was curled up on the floor fast asleep, but jerked suddenly awake as they crept nearer.

"Thank goodness you found me! I've been out here for hours, I couldn't remember the password to get in to bed."

"Keep your voice down, Neville. The password's 'Pig snout' but it won't help you now, the Fat Lady's gone off somewhere." Said Ron.

"How's your arm?" asked Harry.

"Fine." Said Neville, showing them. "Madam Pomfrey mended it in about a minute."

"Good — well, look, Neville, we've got to be somewhere, we'll see you later—"

"Don't leave me!" said Neville, scrambling to his feet. "I don't want to stay alone, the Bloody Baron's been past twice already." Ivy felt pity on the poor boy and went to set a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

Ron looked at his watch and then glared furiously at Hermoine, Ivy and Neville.

"If any of you get us caught, I'll never rest until I've learned that Curse of the Bogies Quirrell told us about, and use it on you."

Hermoine opened her mouth, probably to tell Ron exactly how to use the Curse of the Bogies, but Ivy tugged on her bathrobe and shook her head, telling her to be quiet. They followed Harry forward.

They flitted along corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. Ivy couldn't help but think that the castle looked beautiful and mysterious, if a bit creepy. The creeping shadows hinting at things hidden just beyond sight. Harry seemed to be jumpy as he walked along, probably expecting to run into Filch or Mrs. Norris, but they were lucky, it seemed. They sped up a staircase to the third floor and tiptoed toward the trophy room.

Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there yet. Not that Ivy expected them to be, or to even show up at all. The crystal trophy cases glimmered where the moonlight caught them. Cups, shields, plates, and statues winked silver and gold in the darkness. They edged along the walls, keeping their eyes on the doors at either end of the room. Harry took out his wand, for what, Ivy couldn't guess. The minutes crept by.

"He's late, maybe he's chickened out." Ron whispered. Ivy rolled her eyes and went to tell him exactly what she thought Malfoy had done.

Then a noise in the next room them jump. Harry had only just raised his wand when they heard someone speak — and it wasn't Malfoy.

"Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner."

It was Filch speaking to Mrs. Norris. Harry waved madly at the others to follow him as quickly as possible; they scurried silently toward the door, away from Filch's voice. Neville's robes had barely whipped round the corner when they heard Filch enter the trophy room.

"They're in here somewhere." They heard him mutter. "Probably hiding."

"This way!" Harry mouthed to the others and, slowly, they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armor. They could hear Filch getting nearer. Neville, losing his nerve, suddenly gave out a frightened squeak and broke into a run — he tripped, grabbed Ron around the waist, and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armor.

The clanging and crashing was enough to wake the whole castle.

"RUN!" Harry yelled, and the five of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following — they swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor then another, Harry in the lead, without any idea where they were or where they were going. They ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room.

"I think we've lost him." Harry panted, leaning against the wall and wiping his forehead. Neville was bent double, wheezing and spluttering. Ivy was in similar condition, she had never run so much at once before.

"I— told—you." Hermoine gasped, clutching at the stitch in her chest.

"We've got to get back to Gryffindor tower," Said Ron. "as quickly as possible."

"Malfoy tricked you." Hermoine said to Harry. "you realize that don't you? It was exactly as Ivy said, he set you up so Filch would catch you."

Ivy, of course, agreed, but now was hardly the time to be saying so. She got up from the floor where she had crumpled and helped Neville stand upright.

"Let's just get back to the tower, Hermoine. Before we really get caught." Ivy said, walking down the corridor.

She just had to jinx it. They hadn't gone more than a dozen paces when doorknob rattled and something came shooting out of a classroom in front of them.

It was Peeves. He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight.

"Peeve— please don't. you'll get us thrown out." Ivy tried to plead but she knew it was a lost case.

"Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."

"Not if you don' give us away, Peeves, please." Harry joined in the pleading. Things were looking more desperate by the second.

"Should tell Filch, I should." Said Peeves in a saintly voice, but his eyes glittered wickedly. "It's for your own good, you know."

"Get out of the way." Snapped Ron, taking a swipe at Peeves. Big Mistake.

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Peeves bellowed. "STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR."

Ducking under Peeves, they ran for their lives, right to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a door — and it was locked.

"This is it!" Ron moaned, as they pushed helplessly at the door. "We're done for! This is the end." They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could towards Peeves shouts.

"Oh, move over." Hermoine snarled. She grabbed Harry's wand, tapped the lock, and whispered "Alohamora!"

The lock clicked and the door swung open — they piled through it, shut it quickly. Harry, Hermoine and Ron pressed their ears against it, listening.

Ivy looked at Neville, who was paler than paper and placed a hand on his shoulder, sending what she hoped was a reassuring smile. Honestly she was as shaken as he was, but this was not the time to show it. There was a weird sound from inside the room catching both Ivy's and Neville's attention. And they stared.

Ivy felt her entire body go cold and felt rather than saw Neville begin tugging at the sleeve of Harry's bathrobe until he finally caught his attention. "What?" and then the suddenly silence that realization brought along.

They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in thick, slippery ropes from yellowish fangs. _Cerberus_ , the name popped into Ivy's mind, but it was the only thing that registered.

It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Ivy knew that the only reason it hadn't attacked was because they had caught it off guard. But it was quickly getting over that, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls meant.

Suddenly they were falling backwards through the open door — Harry slammed it shut, and they ran, they almost flew, back down the corridor, no Filch in sight — putting as much distance between them and that monster. They didn't stop running until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor.

"Where on earth have you all been?" she asked, looking at their bathrobes hanging off their shoulders and their flushed, sweaty faces.

"Never mind that—pig snout, pig snout." Panted Harry, and the portrait swung forward. They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling, into armchairs. Ivy simply let her legs give out, crumpling to a heap near the fireplace.

It was a while before any of them said anything. Neville, indeed, looked as if he'd never speak again.

"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" said Ron finally. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."

Hermoine had got both her breath and her bad temper back again. "You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" she snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing?"

"The floor?" Harry said. "I wasn't looking at its feet; I was too busy with its heads."

"A trapdoor" Ivy said faintly, she was still crumpled on the floor, staring into the flames of the fire. She pictured the room in her head, the image probably forever burnt into her memory.

"Exactly. It's obviously guarding something."

She stood up, glaring at them. She went over and helped Ivy to her feet, who was still looking a bit too pale, even in the warm firelight.

"I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed — or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, we're going to bed."

"Hermoine, I think you have the order backwards." Ivy said as they climbed the stairs back into their dormitory, giving a small smile.

As they climbed into bed, Hermoine still up in a huff, Ivy thought back to their little midnight adventure and couldn't help but think that, even though she never wanted to do that again, it wasn't exactly in her list of negative experiences. They made a nice team, all things considered, if Hermoine, Harry and Ron could stop being such idiots for a moment.

As she drifted off to sleep, her last thought was what could possibly be so important as to have a freaking Cerberus guarding it…

The next morning Ivy woke up surprisingly early despite being tired from her midnight misadventure. She got up, eyes barely open, and went through her morning routine barely conscious, even deciding to forgo doing her hair, simply holding it back in a loose ponytail at the base of her skull.

As she got out, dressed and slightly more awake, she encountered Hermoine who looked about as awake as expected, but much happier. They bid good morning, Hermoine telling Ivy it was fine to go down to the Great Hall without her. Grabbing her things for the day, Ivy made her way down to the common room.

There were, unsurprisingly, very few students in the cozy room, as it was still rather early, the room filled with upperclassmen. Ivy quickly made her way down to the Great Hall, still in a daze from the lack of sleep, so much so that she failed to notice as two someones fell into step with her until there were two arms slung around her shoulders, one on each side.

Ivy _squeaked_ , jumping almost a foot in the air and looked up into the devilish smiles of the Weasley twins. _Well, this can't be good._

"A little birdy told us you and our dear Ronniekins' friends went on a little midnight outing last night." The twin on her right said. Ivy paled, had they been seen?

"Don't worry, you weren't caught, we just have our ways." Said the twin on her left. Ivy was starting to get annoyed, not knowing which was which.

"We just wanted to advise you —" said the redhead on the right.

"That next time you go on a little late-night adventure—" continued the redhead on the left.

"You may want to bring less people." They said in unison. Now Ivy was dizzy. She stopped in the corridor, forcing them both to stop with her.

"Alright, that's all well and good but first, which is which? I'm getting dizzy just trying to keep up with you." Ivy said, stepping back so that their arms fell from her shoulders.

The twins exchanged a glance and shrugged.

"It's not like you'll be able to tell us apart anyways." They both said. Ivy gave them an unimpressed look, raising one eyebrow.

"I'm Fred." Said the twin on the right. "And I'm George." Said the twin on the left. Ivy observed them both, trying to see if she could spot any differences. Fred had a little cluster of freckles near his left eye and George stood slightly taller than his twin. The differences were very subtle but there.

Ivy gave a decisive nod, smiled and they resumed their walk to the Great Hall. Once there, the twins bid good-bye to join their friend Lee Jordan and Ivy sat near the middle of the table, facing the rest of the Hall.

As she started to tuck in, Hermoine and Neville joined her, sitting at each side of her. They chatted quietly as they had breakfast until Harry and Ron joined them, sitting across them. They were delighting in Malfoy's disbelief at the failure of his little prank, as well as their midnight trip. They seemed to have gotten over the terror from last night and were quite keen to have another adventure but in the meantime they were trying to figure out what the Cerberus was guarding.

"It's either really valuable or really dangerous." Said Ron. "Or both." Said Harry.

Neither Neville nor Hermoine were interested in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor, and quite frankly neither was Ivy. Sure, she was curious, but not nearly enough to take one step closer to that dog than she had to. Neville shared her sentiment, which he expressed vehemently, or well….as much as Neville could.

Hermoine was now refusing to speak to Harry and Ron, which seemed to suit them just fine. Ivy simply sat quietly, rolling her eyes at her friends' behavior. Someday she would lock them in a classroom together until they either killed each other or resolved their issues.

This went on throughout the week, Ivy went through lessons stuck in the middle of the cold war between Harry and Ron and Hermoine. She completely understood Hermoine's point of view, what they did was reckless and downright dangerous and despite the fact that she and Hermoine had been completely right about Malfoy setting them up, they didn't even have the decency to apologize for completely ignoring them. Which was why Ivy didn't feel much remorse in giving them the cold shoulder, she wasn't outright ignoring them like Hermoine, but her interaction with them was much more strained.

Come Friday afternoon, Hermoine and Ivy headed to the library for their weekly review session. They sat in their usual table, by a window and out of the way, and got started on their notes for the week. They passed roughly two hours like this, reviewing notes and starting on their homework, making more progress than they ever had before. Apparently, annoyance was great fuel for their concentration. So much so, that they were done in no time at all.

"I'm going to go send a letter." Hermoine said, standing from her chair and gathering her things. Ivy made no move to stand, just nodding to show that she had heard. She didn't really feel content with how her Potions essay had turned out and decided to stay and tweak it a bit more. She gave Hermoine an absentminded goodbye and went back to concentrating on the parchment in front of her.

It had been a good 30 minutes when Ivy felt someone taking a seat across from her, but she didn't bother to look up. She was putting the finishing touches on her paper when the person spoke.

"Excuse me, you're working on the Potions homework Snape left, aren't you?" a male voice said. Ivy finally looked up at her new companion. It was the dark skinned Slytherin first year she had seen that first session in the library. While she had seen him often enough, and they exchanged silent greetings, they've never actually spoken before. His voice was refined, high-pitched with youth but not obnoxiously so. It was a full minute until Ivy realized she actually had to _answer_ his question.

"Oh! Uhm. Yes, I am, I've just finished actually." She said, feeling a tendril of anxiety at speaking to him, while she wasn't scared of him, he was still a stranger and that put her on edge. He graciously ignored her little blunder and continued on.

"Do you think you could review mine? I'm not all that confident on how it's come out." He said, sliding the rolls of parchment across the table for her to look at. Ivy took them, noting the neat, elegant script, and quickly reading it through. It was very well done, over all, but she noted a few technical errors here and there. Unconsciously, she reached took her quill and dipped it in the pot of red ink, about to mark them, before it occurred to her to ask first.

"May I?" she said, lifting her quill to get her meaning across, he nodded and she quickly circled the errors and jot down solutions she thought would work on the margins. In less than five minutes, she was done and handing the parchment back to him.

"It's very well done, I just thought that it would flow a bit better this way. I hope you don't mind." Ivy said, nervously fidgeting with the tip of her quill as he read over her revisions. After a minute or so, he nodded and looked up at her, giving her a small smile.

"This is wonderful, thank you." He said, then a thought seemed to have occurred to him, for he put away the rolls of parchment and stuck out his hand. "I don't think I've introduced myself, I'm Blaise Zabini." He said.

Ivy gave a wide smile and grabbed his hand, giving it a firm shake. His hand was slightly bigger than hers and her pale skin made a curious contrast against his own darker skin tone. Absently, Ivy noticed his eyes were a lovely shade of jade.

"I'm Ivette Walker, but please, call me Ivy." She said, letting go of the handshake.

The two first years spent the next hour chatting and getting to know each other and casually chatting about lessons. Ivy learned that Blaise was a Pureblood wizard, his mother hailed from southern Italy and that he liked Transfiguration and Potions. Ivy in turn, told him a bit about growing up Muggle, how she had some family in Germany and about enjoying all her classes (with the obvious exception of History of Magic).

As they noticed the sun going down, they decided to pick up their books and walked out of the library, chatting quietly all the way to where they would split paths, Ivy up to Gryffindor Tower and Blaise down to the dungeons where supposedly the Slytherin common room lay. They bid goodbye, ignoring the curious glances some older students would throw their way.

Come Monday morning, Ivy and Hermoine found out exactly what Ron and Harry had been talking about so excitedly on the table the night of the Flying Incident. Sufficed to say, Hermoine was Not Happy.

As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by a long, thin package carried by six large screech owls. Ivy was just as curious as the rest of the Hall seemed to be, even more so when the owls dropped the package right in front of Harry a few seats down the table, knocking his breakfast to the floor. They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel.

Harry ripped open the letter first, its contents obviously made him happy as he smiled widely, passing the letter to Ron. They left the Hall quickly, and Ivy was ready to put the package out of her mind when she noticed Malfoy and his cronies follow Harry and Ron out. She was out of her seat before she knew it, Hermoine right behind her. They caught up to the boys on the stairs.

"That's a broomstick." Said Malfoy, throwing the package back to Harry with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "You'll be in for it this time, Potter, first years aren't allowed them."

He was of course, right. But Ivy had a growing suspicion about what exactly was going on and why Professor McGonagall had decided to spare Harry punishment.

"It's not any old broomstick." Ron was speaking now, voice laced with glee. "It's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty? Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus." He said, grinning at Harry.

"What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle." Malfoy snapped back. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig."

Before Ron could retort, Professor Flitwick appeared at Malfoy's elbow. _When had he gotten there?_

"Not arguing, I hope, boys?" he squeaked.

"Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor." Malfoy said quickly, the snitch.

"Yes, yes, that's right." Said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Harry. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?"

"A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir." Said Harry, obviously fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy's face. "And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it." He added. Well, that confirms that. Ivy turned towards Hermoine, ready to go back to the Hall now that trouble had been avoided. That thought quickly flew out the window. Hermoine was pink in the face, clearly annoyed, maybe even angry.

Hermoine went after Harry and Ron, who had started going up the marble stairs, her very posture screaming her displeasure. _This cannot be good_. Ivy hurried after her, they caught the boys at the top of the marble staircase.

"So, I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" she said, voice laced with her anger, stomping up the stairs after Harry and Ron. Her eyes were fixed on the package in Harry's hand.

"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" said Harry.

"Yes, don't stop now," said Ron, "it's doing us so much good."

Well, that was rude. They had been increasingly rude to Hermoine lately, Ivy knew she could be overbearing, but she didn't mean harm by it. And really, she could see where she was coming from, it wasn't nice to meet an exception to the rules, especially one so blatant as Harry. Ivy knew he didn't mean to be, and he wasn't arrogant about it like others she had met, but she could see how Hermoine would become angry about it.

Hermoine gave a huff and marched back down the stairs. Ivy gave the boys a rather disapproving look and she saw Harry deflate slightly.

"You know, that wasn't nice. I know she can be a bit much, but that doesn't excuse your behavior either." Ivy said, turning and following Hermoine down the stairs. That was the last Ivy and Hermoine spoke to Harry and Ron for the next month.

They went about their normal routines as if they've never been friends in the first place. Ivy and Hermoine went through classes as normal, Hermoine throwing herself wholeheartedly into her studies with fervor that sometimes worried Ivy. She would do nothing but eat, sleep, and study, talking only to Ivy. Ivy on her part, while sad to see the growing distance between herself and Harry (not so much Ron, he was being a jerk), she wasn't going out of her way to fix it. He was in the wrong and if he wanted to continue being friends he would have to be the one to apologize.

Ivy filled her time being with Hermoine, making sure she never worked herself too hard, listening to her vent her frustrations and insecurities and in turn venting her own. She would occasionally encounter Blaise, usually in early morning weekends, when Ivy would leave the Tower alone and just take in the beauty of the castle. She still took her camera with her everywhere and anytime she saw something new or interesting she would capture it. These outings often took her to the castle grounds where she would find Blaise sat in some comfy patch of grass, reading one book or another.

They would sit together for a while, chatting about their weeks, sharing tips on classes, anecdotes about their home life. When breakfast time came, they would walk together to the Great Hall and go their separate ways.

Ivy also found a pair of unlikely friends in the Weasley twins. She would sometimes encounter them halfway through a prank or in the midst of preparing one. Sometimes she would help cover for them, misleading Filch as he chased after them. She even helped them set up a small prank, once she found out that the target was Malfoy. It was quite amusing seeing him walk around with pink hair for the rest of the day.

Between classes, studies and her newfound friends, Halloween had reached them before she knew it. On Halloween morning she and Hermoine woke to the wonderful smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were read to start making objects fly, something they've been dying to try since they'd seen him make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom. Professor Flitwick put them into pairs to practice. Ivy was partnered up with Neville, at which he looked extremely relieved. Rather unfortunately, Hermoine had been paired up with Ron. It was hard to tell which once was angrier about the match up.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" Squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched atop his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too— never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

Ivy wasn't very worried about this class, she and Hermoine had already gotten this spell down after an afternoon of practicing. Before Neville could get started, she took his wand and had him repeat the spell several times, until she was satisfied with his pronunciation, this also served to calm Neville down.

All around them their classmates were swishing and flicking and shouting the spell over and over again, to no avail. She even saw Seamus Finnigan set fire to his and Harry's feather. The ones who worried her were Ron and Hermoine, Ron was shouting and waving his arms like a windmill as if doing it more forcefully would force the spell to work. Finally, Hermoine snapped.

"You're saying it wrong. It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long." She said.

"You do it, then, if you're so clever." Ron snarled. Oh boy….

Hermoine rolled up the sleeves of her robe, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.

"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"

Needless to say, things didn't improve for the pair during the class. At least Ivy had managed to get Neville to hover the feather about a foot above their desk, making Professor Flitwick clap rather loudly. As Ivy and Hermoine were making their way on to the next class, they came up behind Harry and Ron.

"It's no wonder almost no one can stand her, she's a nightmare, honestly." Ron said to Harry. Ivy felt pure anger well up in her, cemented by the tears she saw run down Hermoine's pale face, but Ivy didn't get the chance to comfort her as she ran ahead, knocking into Harry, giving him a glimpse of her teary face in the process.

"I think she heard you." He said, sounding a bit guilty.

"So? She must've noticed she's got no friends besides Ivy." Ron said. And that was just about it for Ivy.

She hurried after Hermoine, purposely giving Ron an ice-cold glare as she went. She took some satisfaction in seeing him pale to the point where his freckles stood out in sharp contrast.

Ivy then scoured the entire castle for Hermoine, first up to the dorms, ignoring the "shouldn't you be in class?" from the Fat Lady. The library, the small bench facing the lake that they would sometimes sit in, all empty. Then she began with the bathrooms, which was quite a difficult task considering how many bathrooms Hogwarts had. Finally, she found the right one, Hermoine was crying in a stall towards the corner, the sound broke Ivy's heart.

" 'Mione? Do you want to talk?" Ivy said, voice small and tentative. She badly wanted to comfort her friend, but sometimes you just needed to cry out all your sorrows. She knew from experience. So, when Hermoine opened the stall door and pulled her in, Ivy simply laid Hermoine's head on her shoulder and let her cry, stroking her soft hair.

They sat there for a long time, Ivy silently comforting Hermoine, waiting for her to let it all out. Finally, as night started to fall, Hermoine's tears stopped falling, but still Ivy stayed silent. She didn't need to say anything, Hermoine felt everything she wanted to convey.

 _What he said isn't true. You're lovely the way you are. It's ok to be firm in your beliefs. I'm here for you, always._

Ivy simply gave her a warm smile and led Hermoine out of the bathroom stall, took out her handkerchief and ran it under the sink. She wiped Hermoine's cheeks, erasing any trace of the tears tracts and being specially careful around her swollen eyes.

"We've miss the feast." Hermoine said, her voice hoarse and quiet.

"That's alright. We can go get something to eat later at the kitchens, Fred and George showed me the way." Ivy said.

"We've also missed afternoon classes…" Hermoine said.

"We were ahead anyways. And I'm sure the professors won't mind." Ivy replied. Hermoine gave her a small smile, but then a confused look broke through, quickly becoming disgust.

"What is that?" Hermoine said, but she need not elaborate for a foul smell had permeated the bathroom, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean. Then there was a grunting, shuffling footfalls, far too big to belong to any human. Hermoine and Ivy looked towards the entrance. The blood drained from their faces, leaving them pale even under the warm candlelight.

A troll. It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite gray, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched atop like a coconut. It had short legs, thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. It was holding a huge wooden club, which rested on the floor because of its very long arms.

Ivy and Hermoine screamed. The troll bellowed, coming towards them. They backed against the wall, curled up together to become as small as possible.

"Confuse it!" Ivy heard someone say, she turned towards the door to see Ron and Harry there. Harry seized a tap and threw it against the wall. That got the troll's attention, who was now far closer to the girls than Ivy ever wanted it again. It turned around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise and spotted Harry. It hesitated, then made for him instead, lifting its club as it went.

"Oy, pea-brain!" yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it. The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout toward Ron instead, giving Harry time to run around it and towards them.

"Come on, run, run!" Harry yelled at them, spurring Ivy into motion, she took Hermoine's arm and tried to stand her up, but she couldn't move, she was still curled up against the wall, he mouth open in terror, face paper white.

The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started toward Ron, who was nearest and had no way to escape. Ivy felt her heart skip a beat.

Harry then did something that was both very brave and very stupid. He took a great running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind. The troll couldn't feel Harry hanging there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up its nose, and Harry's wand had still been in his hand when he'd jumped — it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils.

Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Harry clinging on for dear life, any second, the troll was going to rip him off or catch him a terrible blow with the club.

Ivy's heart stopped, and she heard Hermoine give a distressed whimper; Ron pulled out his own wand— clearly he hadn't thought things through, or maybe, in retrospect, he had. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he cried.

The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high up into the air, turned slowly over— and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.

Harry got to his feet. He was shaking and out of breath. Ron was standing there with his wand still raised, staring at what he had done.

Surprisingly, Hermoine was the first to speak.

"Is it— dead?" Her voice was shaky with the remnants of her terror

"I don't think so." Said Harry. "I think it's just been knocked out."

He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy gray glue.

"That's disgusting." Said Ivy, voice as shaky as Hermoine's.

"Urgh— troll boogers." He said, wiping it on the troll's trousers.

A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the four of them look up. They must have been making quite a racket as, clearly, someone had heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Professor Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart.

Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at Ron and Harry. Ivy had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white.

"What on earth were you thinking?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Ivy looked at Harry and Ron, who was still standing with his wand in the air. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

Harry shrank into himself, looking at the floor. He seemed to be wishing the floor would swallow him. Ivy exchanged looks with Hermoine, who had gotten to her feet at last, and decided to speak up.

"Please, Professor McGonagall— they were looking for us."

"Miss Granger, Miss Walker!"

"We went looking for the troll because— we wanted to observe it, we thought maybe we could deal with it— because we've read all about them." Ivy continued, saying the first thing that popped into her head.

Ron dropped his wand. Harry's jaw fell open.

"If they hadn't found us, we'd be dead now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It had already cornered us when they arrived." Hermoine said. Harry and Ron tried to look as though this wasn't new to them.

"Well— in that case…." Said Professor McGonagall, staring at the four of them. "Miss Granger, Miss Walker, you foolish girls, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"

Ivy and Hermoine hung their heads, trying to look as guilty as possible.

"Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this." Said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in both of you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor Tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."

They quickly left, running once they were out in the hall, all the way up to the portrait of the Fat Lady where Ivy finally gave into her shaking legs and collapsed on the floor. She gave a heavy breath and began laughing, a little hysterically. That was terrifying. Hermoine joined in her laughter, clearly sharing the sentiment. They sat there, laughing, ignoring the increasingly worried looks the Fat Lady kept sending them, for a full minute.

When they had calmed down, they went through the portrait hole. The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Ivy and Hermoine, however, chose to wait by the door. They hadn't been there more than a minute when Ron and Harry went through the door. There was an embarrassed pause. Then, none of them looking at each other, they all said "Thanks" and hurried off to get plates.

But from that moment on, the four truly became friends. There are some thing you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.


	6. Chapter 6

**Standard Disclaimer:**

I don't own Harry Potter!

 **A/N:** Hello! I know it's been a while, but life happened and well, to be honest I not only wrestled with this a lot, but I've gotten a bit discouraged. However, I want to see this story through, at least for myself, so I hope you enjoy!

 **Chapter 6:**

The next morning dawned bright and chilly. Ivy woke with the memory of last night still on her mind, making her smile lazily. The four of them had sat and eaten dinner together, chatting casually as if they hadn't had been fighting that very morning. Ivy was glad that things had finally smoothed over between them, even if it had taken a mountain troll to do it.

She got up to do her morning routine, as she was brushing her teeth a sudden niggling plagued her, she was forgetting something… she thought about it all through her shower and as she was finishing getting dressed it suddenly hit her. Today was November 1st. She was officially 11 years old. The realization lifted her already happy mood, enough that she decided to do something different with her hair. She brushed it out and braided a bit of it, wrapping it to make a crown, she tied it at the back and went out to her trunk, retrieving a red ribbon from its depths.

"You look nice today Ivy." Someone said behind her, Ivy turned to see Hermoine up, her toiletries in her arms. Ivy gave her a blinding smile.

"Morning 'Mione!" Ivy said, "I'm in a good mood. Go get ready, I'll tell you on our way to breakfast." She continued. As Hermoine went into the bathroom, Ivy got her school things ready, humming a happy tune.

When Hermoine came out and got all her things, Ivy linked their arms and went down the spiral staircase into the common room.

"What's got you in such a good mood anyways?" Hermoine said, laughing at Ivy's enthusiasm. They had reached the common room, filled with older students, as usual, they were the only first years up and about at this hour.

"It's my birthday today!" Ivy said, making their way towards the entrance, but couldn't as Hermoine stopped dead in her tracks, clearly surprised.

"What?!" she said, looking a bit shell-shocked. Ivy simply laughed and tugged Hermoine out into the corridor and towards the Great Hall.

"I forgot too, what with the Troll Incident from last night" Ivy said, amused at Hermoine's reaction.

"Well, it's a good thing I already mail-ordered your gift for today." Hermoine said, shaking off her surprised. Now it was Ivy's turn to stop dead in her tracks.

"You got me a present?" Ivy said, touched at her friend's gesture.

"Of course, I did! Why wouldn't I? You're my best friend." Hermoine said, looking pink in the face, clearly flustered at what she said. Ivy felt a warmth in her chest, extremely happy at Hermoine's declaration. So much so that she couldn't hold herself. Squealing, Ivy brought Hermoine into a tight hug, which Hermoine returned after a bit of hesitation. They didn't even notice all the weird looks they were getting from the other students passing them by.

After separating, the two friends continued their way to the Great Hall, arms still linked, happily chatting. They entered the Great Hall, taking a seat in the emptiest part of the table. Ivy noticed that there were chocolate chip pancakes today. Huh.

Once the girls had served themselves breakfast, Harry and Ron joined them, looking sleepy still. They said their good-mornings, Ron and Hermoine still somewhat awkwardly. Ivy felt content, digging into her pancakes. This was a lovely birthday.

Soon the usual clattering of the mail arriving was heard and Ivy looked up to Einri carrying a rather large, bright blue package. He set it down gently, avoiding the plates nearby. A second later, a large barn owl dropped a much smaller package, wrapped in green paper, followed by two more packages, one silver and one red, taking up any empty space available. Ivy grinned widely, ignoring the bewildered looks on Ron and Harry's faces.

"What's all this?" Ron said, staring at the brightly colored packages, but Ivy paid him no mind.

"It's Ivy's birthday today." Hermoine responded for her.

"What?!" both boys said, the sentiment being echoed by Neville, who was sitting on Harry's other side. Off to the side, the Weasley twins had shocked expressions on their faces. Ivy ignored all of them in favor of opening her presents.

She grabbed the blue package first, taking the card attached to the top:

 _Happy Birthday darling! We miss you terribly and wish we could be there today._

 _We_ _'re so proud of you!_

 _Love, Aunt Amy and Uncle Richard._

Ivy smiled, putting the card safely aside. Inside was a silver photo frame, with Ivy's favorite picture, her parents and baby Ivy, but this one was clearly a wizard picture. Her father was looking proud and happy, lovingly squeezing Ivy's mother, who alternated between smiling at her father and staring adoringly at baby Ivy bundled in her arms.

Ivy felt her eyes water and gently placed the photo with the card. The box also contained her favorite chocolate cake, handmade by Aunt Amy no doubt, protected by a clear plastic cover. She replaced the card and frame inside and carefully set the box aside.

She moved on to the green box. There was a small white card attached and she read that first:

 _Happy birthday! Congrats on getting into Hogwarts!_

 _Looking forward to seeing you next summer!_

 _Love, Eric._

Ivy giggled, putting the card aside and went to open the small box. She gasped once she saw her gift. It was a necklace, the chain was silver and delicate-looking, and on it hung a snowflake-shaped charm, complete with a blue stone in the center. It was beautiful! She'd have to send a thank you letter to Aunt Helena for choosing it. Her cousin was lovely, but he didn't have nearly enough taste to choose something like this.

"Wow! That's lovely!" said Hermoine as Ivy held up the necklace.

"Who got you that?" Ron said, there was an odd tone in his voice, expression mirroring Harry's, a sort of unhappy sulk. Well, that was weird.

"It's from my cousin, the one in Germany, remember?" Ivy said. "Help me put it on. Please?" she said to Hermoine, turning her back to the other girl and lifting her hair out of the way so she could clasp it. It hung down to just below the hollow of her throat. The answer seemed to appease Ron and Harry's somewhat strange mood. Ivy moved on to the red package. It was quite big, but Ivy could tell they were several books. A collection maybe?

"That ones from me, you mentioned wanting to read it, so…" Hermoine said, again a dusting of pink appearing on her cheeks.

Ivy carefully unwrapped it and gave a small squeal at seeing the books. It was the complete collection of the Chronicles of Narnia, which Ivy had been saving up to get since last Christmas. She set it down quickly and gave the other girl another big hug.

"Thank you so much 'Mione!" Ivy said, voice soft with affection. She released her friend, still smiling widely and turned to the last package, the silver one. She looked at it quizzically, she wasn't expecting any more presents…

There was a cream-colored note on top, written in familiar, elegant script:

 _I couldn_ _'t decide on what to get you, so in the end_

 _I just went with the first thing I thought would suit you._

 _I know you_ _'ll understand what I mean._

 _Hope you have a lovely birthday._

 _-B.Z_

 _PS: They_ _'re charmed so they'll last all month._

Inside was a lovely bouquet of white camellias, it was held together by a red and gold ribbon with a camellia pin holding it together. Ivy was left speechless, no one had ever given her flowers before…

"White camellias… Oh." Ivy said to herself. As she realized what meaning the flowers had, she felt her face heating up, no doubt it was very red right now. She could see Hermoine give her a, dare she say it, sly look...

"Who's _that_ from?" Hermoine said, she was _so_ enjoying this…Ivy simply mouthed 'later' and quickly changed the subject.

"'Mione, help me bring these back to our room, we should hurry if we want to make it to class." Ivy said quickly, beginning to gather her presents and standing to leave. Ivy then finally noticed all the attention she was grabbing, not only from her House table. Feeling her face heat up, Ivy quickly gathered her things and nearly ran out of the Great Hall, Hermoine in tow.

A very embarrassing walk later and the girls finally made it to their dorm room. Hermoine immediately rounded on Ivy, obviously intent on grilling her.

"So…? Who's the _lovely_ bouquet from? That doesn't seem like a present a family member would get you." She said, clear amusement in her voice. She seemed to enjoy not being the flustered one for once.

Huffing in defeat, Ivy made herself busy by carefully putting her presents away. The chocolate cake went into her trunk, she'd share it with the others tonight. The silver framed picture and the camellias went on her night table, she'd have to get a vase for them from somewhere.

"So, remember I told you I made a friend at the library? And that we meet up sometimes? Blaise, remember?" Ivy said, pointedly _not_ looking at Hermoine. Ivy didn't know why she was so flustered, it's not like she and Blaise were anything more than friends, and Ivy didn't _think_ he was interested in her in any other way.

"Blaise Zabini? The Slytherin?" Hermoine said, the teasing tone still there. Ivy finally turned to face her, once she couldn't fuss over the flowers anymore.

"It's no big deal. It doesn't mean anything, you can get a person flowers for more than just romantic reasons." Ivy said, feeling her face heat up once more.

"I know, I'm just teasing. The wizarding world is a bit more old-fashioned, so I'm sure it was just a gentlemanly gesture on his part." Hermoine said, finally dropping the mischievous look. Thank goodness, Ivy wasn't sure how to deal with a teasing Hermoine.

"Come on, let's head to class." Ivy said, once more linking arms with the fluffy brunette and making their way to the first class of the day.

Nothing particularly interesting went by during the day, not counting the odd looks some students would give Ivy as she passed between classes, certainly because of the spectacle she made during breakfast. That, and the fact that Ron and Harry seemed to be sulking, for whatever reason, they would alternate between staring at Ivy and avoiding her gaze when she talked to them. Come lunch, she had had enough.

"What is the matter with you two? You've been acting weird all morning! Did that troll hit you both in the head or something?" Ivy said, they were just sitting down to lunch. Both boys exchanged a look.

"Why didn't you tell us your birthday was coming up?" Ron said, looking for all the world like a kicked puppy. Ivy huffed a laugh. Was that it?

"Well, if you happen to recall, we haven't exactly been on speaking terms lately. And last night's…Incident just blew everything out of my mind. I even forgot for a bit this morning." Ivy said, digging into her lunch with a huff.

At that the boys seemed relieved, and the atmosphere became much more relaxed, talk turning to the day's classes and last night's Troll Incident. Ivy felt content once again, seeing all her friends getting along. And then someone dumped something soft on her head.

Ivy gave a startled gasp, looking up to see the Weasley twins smirking down at her from either side. They held a purple paper bag over her head, which they offered to her.

"Happy Birthday!" they said in unison. Handing Ivy the bag with a grin on their faces. Ivy felt a warm feeling in her chest at the gesture, she couldn't stop smiling. Inside the bag there was an assortment of sweets, mainly chocolates. She gave a little squeal and jumped up, giving them both a warm hug, which was a difficult feat considering her small figure and the fact that there were two of them, but she managed it.

"Thank you so much! You really didn't have to." She said, releasing them and giving them a big grin. Once more she noticed that she had caught the attention of everyone in the Great Hall and quickly sat down again, face scarlet. The twins ruffled her hair and moved on towards the end of the table, where surely Lee Jordan was waiting for them.

"I didn't know you were close to Fred and George." Ron said, the odd frown was back on his face.

"I wouldn't say we're close, we just talk sometimes. I wonder how they got all this, since they only found out about my birthday this morning…" Ivy said, putting the bag of sweets off to the side.

"It's Fred and George, they must have some way." Harry said, tucking into his lunch. At that, everyone paused and realized they probably didn't want to know exactly _how_ Fred and George did it, as most things they did were very against the rules.

The rest of the day went by very smoothly, no mishaps in class and by dinner people finally stopped looking at Ivy oddly. There was a tense moment where everyone no doubt expected Quirrell or some other teacher to burst in, warning of some other creature advice but dinner went off without a hitch and the relief was palpable as everyone rose to go off to bed.

Once in the common room, Ivy gathered all her friends in a quiet corner, tasked Fred and George to get some cutlery and went up to her room to retrieve the cake Aunt Amy had sent over. Being very careful to go down the stairs without dropping it, Ivy once more reached the common room where her friends were waiting. Fred and George had somehow gotten back before she did, as Hermoine had begun to distribute the plates and forks. As she set the cake down in the middle, Hermoine produced a small silver candle, no doubt Transfigured from a regular one, and placed it in the center of the cake, where George lit it with the tip of his wand.

"Happy Birthday Ivy!" they all said, big smiles on their faces, and Ivy felt warmth fill her heart. How did she get so lucky to have such amazing friends? "Blow out the candle and make a wish." Hermoine said.

Ivy closed her eyes and made her wish. _I hope we all stay together, happy and safe, for a long time._ She opened her eyes and blew out the candles.

It's too bad her wish wouldn't come true for a long time to come.

As November progressed, the weather turned very cold. The mountains around the school became icy gray and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost. Hagrid could b seen from the upstairs windows defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch field, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves, and enormous beaverkin boots. Ivy loved it, she loved this time of year where the landscape became monochrome, but this year that's not what had her exited.

The Quidditch season had begun. On Saturday, Harry would be playing in his first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor vs Slytherin (How typical). If Gryffindor won, they would move up into second place in the house championship.

Hardly anyone had seen Harry play because Wood had decided that, as their secret weapon, Harry should be kept, well, secret. But he news that he was playing Seeker had leaked out somehow, and Ivy didn't know what was worse — people telling him he'd be brilliant or people telling him they'd be running around underneath him, holding a mattress.

It was very lucky that Harry was once more on speaking terms with Ivy and now had Hermoine as a friend. She didn't want to think how he'd get through all his homework without them, what with all the extra Quidditch practice Wood was making them do. Hermoine also lent him Quidditch Through the Ages, which Harry very much enjoyed.

He told Ivy that there were seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch foul and that all of them happened during a World Cup match in 1473 ("How did people keep track of them all?!" Ivy exclaimed. "How did people manage to commit them all?!" Harry countered jokingly.); that Seekers were usually the smallest and fastest players ("Well aren't you just perfect for the position?" Ivy teased.), and that most serious Quidditch accidents seemed to happen to them ("…This is a school game, I'm sure everything will be fine." Ivy said firmly, he didn't know whether she was trying to reassure him or herself.); that although people rarely died playing Quidditch, referees had been known to vanish and turn up months later in the Sahara Desert ("Huh." Ivy said. Harry could only agree).

Hermoine had become more relaxed about breaking the rules after the Troll Incident ("See, the world won't end if you break a rule and lose a few points." Ivy teased. Hermoine just rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated huff.), and she was much nicer for it. The day before Harry's first Quidditch match, the four of them were out in the freezing courtyard during break, and she had conjured them a bright blue fire that could be carried around in a jam jar Ivy got from the kitchens. They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard, limping. They all moved closer together, trying to block the fire from view; they were sure it wouldn't be allowed. Unfortunately, something about their guilty faces caught Snape's eye. He limped over. He hadn't seen the fire, but he was out to tell them off anyway.

"What's that you've got there, Potter?" He snarled. It was Quidditch Through the Ages. Harry held up the book.

"Library books are not to be taken outside the school." Said Snape. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor."

"He's just made that rule up." Harry muttered angrily as Snape limped away. Ivy actually knew that to be and actual rule, but the courtyard did not count as 'outside the school' so she just said, "Wonder what's wrong with his leg?"

"Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him." Ron said bitterly.

The Gryffindor common room was very noisy that evening. Ivy and her friends sat together next to a window, where Hermoine and Ivy were checking the boys' Charms homework for them. They would never let them copy ("How will you learn?" Hermoine said.), but by asking them to read it through, they got the right answers anyway.

Ivy could see Harry was restless, no doubt wanting something to take his mind off his nerves about tomorrow. Suddenly, he got up and told them he was going to ask Snape for Quidditch Through the Ages back.

"Better you than me." Hermoine and Ron said together ( _surely, the world was coming to an end._ Ivy though, bemused.)

"I'll go with you, he probably won't refuse in front of other teachers." Ivy said, standing and walking with Harry out of the Gryffindor common room.

They made their way down to the staffroom in idle chatter, once there, Harry knocked, he pushed the door ajar and peered inside — and tensed. Ivy went up to take a peak as well.

Snape and Filch were inside, alone. Snape was holding his robes and trousers above his knees. One of his legs was bloody and mangled. Filch was handing Snape bandages.

"Blasted thing!" Snape was saying. "How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?"

Harry tried to shut the door quietly, but —

"POTTER! WALKER!"

Snape's face was twisted with fury as he dropped his robes quickly to hide his leg. Harry audibly gulped, Ivy paled.

"We we-were just wondering I could have my book back."

"GET OUT! OUT!"

They left, sprinting up the stairs, all the way until the common room.

"Did you get it?" Ron asked as they retook their seats. "What's the matter?"

In a low whisper, Harry told them what he and Ivy had seen.

"You know what this means?" he finished breathlessly. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Halloween!" ("Cerberus" Ivy faintly corrected, but no one paid her any mind.) "That's where he was going when we saw him— he's after whatever it's guarding! And I bet my broomstick he let that troll in, to make a diversion!"

Hermoine's eyes widened.

"No— he wouldn't." she said. "I know he's not very nice, but he wouldn't try and steal something Dumbledore were keeping safe." She finished in a hushed voice.

"Honestly, Hermoine, you think all teachers are saints or something." Ron snapped.

"It's not about that Ron, Snape may be a bully, but what you're suggesting is downright criminal. And if he _were_ , he wouldn't be talking about it so obviously in the staffroom." Ivy said, frowning. She didn't like Snape any better than they did, but she wouldn't peg him for a thief.

"Whatever, I'm with Harry. I wouldn't put anything past Snape. But what's he after? What's that dog guarding?" Ron said.

That night they all went to bed with their head's buzzing with that very same question. Ivy didn't think Snape was truly trying to steal whatever that Cerberus was guarding, but it was clear that _someon_ _e_ was, it wouldn't be so heavily guarded otherwise. She supposed Snape _could_ be cooperating, but then, why be so open about the fact that he went near the Cerberus? Sleep did not come easily that night and Ivy pitied Harry who was no doubt having trouble sleeping as well.

The next morning dawned very bright and cold. Ivy woke reluctantly, her limbs heavy with lack of sleep. She dressed in casual clothes (red sweater to support Gryffindor), held her hair back with a golden ribbon, and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast with Hermione.

The Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of fried sausages and the cheerful chatter of everyone looking forward to a good Quidditch match. Poor Harry was clearly sleep-deprived and looking queasy all around.

"You've got to eat some breakfast." Ron said, offering Harry a plate full of sausages and eggs.

"I don't want anything." Harry said, not even turning towards Ron.

"Just a bit of toast." Wheedled Hermoine.

"I'm not hungry." He said, a bit more firmly.

Ivy wanted to help her friend, when she was feeling anxious Aunt Amy always prepared her some Lemon Tea, but Ivy didn't think they kept a ready-made stock of tea leaves… And then she saw it, there on the center of the table, not too far away was a small tray with little piles of tea leaves, little strips of parchment labeling each one.

Huh. She was sure that wasn't there before. Shrugging she grabbed a pitcher of water, poured it in one of the mugs that were near the tray and discreetly heated it up with her wand. She poured the tea leaves and stirred.

"Here. At least drink this, it'll help your nerves." Ivy said, passing Harry the mug. He opened his mouth, to refuse no doubt, but a stern look from both Ivy and Hermoine and his shoulders slump in defeat. They sat there for a long time, Harry slowly drinking his tea and the rest of them finishing their breakfast.

By eleven o'clock the whole school seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. Ivy had never seen such a field; hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the field so that the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. At either end of the field were three golden poles with hoops at the end. They looked like the little sticks children in Ivy's neighborhood used to blow bubbles, except that they were fifty feet high.

Ron, Hermoine and Ivy had joined Neville, Seamus and Dean up in the top row. They had painted a large banner on one of the sheets Scabbers had ruined, as a surprise for Harry, 'Potter for President' was displayed in flashing colors (Curtesy of Hermoine) and a Gryffindor lion was painted underneath (Thankfully, Dean was good at drawing).

Everyone was chatting excitedly, waiting for the match to start. Ivy was filled with nervous excitement, but she managed to distract herself, talking to Neville about that week's Herbology lesson.

Loud cheers attracted her attention to the center of the pitch, were both teams had gathered with Madan Hooch, who was refereeing. She seemed to be giving a small speech, the teams mounted their brooms. At her whistle, fifteen brooms rose up, high, high into the air, until they were above the crowd. They were off,

"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor— what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive too —"

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry, Professor."

The Weasley twins' friend, Lee Jordan, was doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall.

"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve— back to Johnson and —no, the Slytherin's have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes— Flint flying like an eagle up there — he's going to sco — no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle— that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and— OUCH— that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger— Quaffle take by the Slytherins— that's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goal post, but he's blocked by a second Bludger— sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which— nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes— she's really flying— dodges a speeding Bludger— the goal posts are ahead— come on, now, Angelina— Keeper Bletchley dives—misses— GRYFFINDOR SCORES!"

Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air, with howls and moans from the Slytherins. Ivy was amazed by how fast-paced the game was, if Lee Jordan wasn't commenting so well, she was sure she would have been lost.

"Budge up there, move along." Ivy heard a burly voice say.

"Hagrid!" Ron cried.

They all squeezed together to give Hagrid enough space to join them.

"Bin watchin' from me hut." Said Hagrid, patting a large pair of binoculars around his neck. "But it isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?"

"Nope." Said Ron. "Harry hasn't had much to do yet."

"Kept outta trouble, though, that's somethin'." Said Hagrid, raising his binoculars and peering skywards at the speck that was Harry.

He seemed to be flying aimlessly, probably on the lookout for the tiny, golden Snitch that would end the game and probably win the game for the team that caught it.

"Slytherin in possession." Lee Jordan said. "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys, and Chase Bell, and speeds toward the— wait a moment— was that the Snitch?"

A murmur ran through the crowd as Adrian Pucey dropped the Quaffle, too busy looking over his shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed his left ear.

Ivy couldn't see it, but apparently Harry did, he dived downward. Slytherin Seeker Higgs had seen it, too. Neck and neck, they hurtled toward the Snitch— all the Chasers seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing as they hung in midair to watch.

Harry was faster than Higgs— he put an extra spurt of speed, reaching for something, and—

WHAM! A roar of rage echoed from the Gryffindors, Ivy felt cold— Marcus Flint had blocked Harry on purpose, and Harry's broom spun off course, Harry holding on for dear life.

"Foul!" rose the outcry from the Gryffindors.

Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and the ordered a free shot at the goal posts for Gryffindor, but in all the confusion, of course, the Golden Snitch had disappeared again.

"Send him off, ref! Red card!" Dean Thomas was yelling, Ivy had never seen him so angry.

"What are you talking about, Dean?" said Ron.

"In soccer, if you get showed the red card, you get sent out of the game." Ivy explained.

"But this isn't soccer, Dean." Ron reminded him, clearly bemused.

Hagrid, however, was on Dean's side.

"They oughta change the rules. Flint coulda knocked Harry outta the air."

Lee Jordan was finding it difficult not to take sides.

"So— after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating—"

"Jordan!" Growled Professor McGonagall.

"I mean, after that open and revolting foul—"

"Jordan, I'm warning you!"

"Alright, alright. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, take by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue the play, Gryffindor still in possession.

Ivy tuned out Lee Jordan for a moment, just watching the players fly around. It was amazing the control they had, dodging Bludgers, player and still managing to pass to each other, it almost seemed like a dance, if one ignored the very real possibility of dangerous injury.

"Slytherin in possession— Flint with the Quaffle— passes Spinnet— passes Bell— hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose— only joking Professor— Slytherin scores…" Lee Jordan was saying. The Slytherin crowd rose in cheer.

"Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing." Hagrid said, staring through his binoculars. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say he'd lost control of his broom…but he cant's have…"

But that certainly seemed like the case, Harry was lurching all around, as if his broom was trying to buck him off, it was zigzagging through the air, and making violent swishing movements that made Ivy's heart jump to her throat.

Suddenly, people were taking notice of Harry. His broom had started to roll over and over, with him only managing to hold on. Then everyone gasped as Harry's broom gave a wild jerk and he swung off, just barely holding on with one hand. Ivy felt faint.

"Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?" Seamus whispered, everyone was hushed, simply staring.

"Can't have." Hagrid said, his voice shaking. "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark magic— no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."

At these words, Hermoine seized Hagrid's binoculars, but instead of looking up at Harry, she started looking frantically at the crowd.

"What are you doing?" Moaned Ron, ashen-faced. But Ivy already knew what she was doing.

"I knew it." Hermoine gasped. "Snape—look."

Ron grabbed the binoculars, looking towards the teacher's stand.

"He's doing something— Jinxing the broom." Said Hermoine.

"What should we do?" Ron said, but Hermoine had already started moving through the crowd.

"Leave it to me." She called over her shoulder.

Ivy took the binoculars from Ron, ignoring his outcry, she turned them on Harry. His broom was vibrating so hard, it was almost impossible for him to hang on much longer. The whole crowd around her was on its feet, watching, terrified, as the Weasley twins flew up and tried to pull Harry safely onto one of their brooms, but it was no good— every time they got near him, the broom would jump higher still. They dropped lower and circled beneath him, obviously trying to catch him if he fell.

"Come on, Hermoine." Ron muttered desperately.

They didn't have to wait much longer, suddenly, Harry's broom stopped vibrating and he was able to clamber back on his broom.

"Neville, you can look!" Ron said. Neville had been sobbing violently into Hagrid's jacket for the last five minutes.

Harry was speeding toward the ground, so suddenly, Ivy thought Hermoine's interference had been for naught, then he clamped his hand to his mouth, as though he was about to be sick— he hit the ground on all fours— coughed— and something gold fell into his hand.

"I've got the Snitch!" he shouted, waving it above his head, and the game ended in complete confusion.

"He didn't catch it, he nearly swallowed it." Flint was still howling twenty minutes later, but it made no difference— Harry hadn't broken any rules and Lee Jordan was still happily shouting the results— Gryffindor had won by one hundred and seventy points to sixty. Ivy and her friends only heard all this later as they had retreated to Hagrid's hut to make Harry a cup of strong tea.

Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the forbidden forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door. There was only one room inside, hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it. Hagrid's enormous black boarhound Fang lay by the fireplace.

"It was Snape." Ron was explaining. "Hermoine and I saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you."

"Rubbish." Said Hagrid, who hadn't heard a word of what had gone on next to him in the stands. "Why would Snape do somethin' like that?"

The four friends all looked at one another, wondering what to tell him, Harry decided on the truth.

"Ivy and I found out something about him." He told Hagrid. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding."

Hagrid dropped the teapot.

"How do you know about Fluffy?" he said.

"Fluffy?" They all said in disbelief. Surely Hagrid was talking about some other three-headed dog. There was nothing _fluffy_ about that Cerberus.

"Yeah— He's mine— bought him off a Greek chappie I met in a pub las' year— I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the—" but he had stopped talking, clearly realizing he had said too much.

"Yes?" said Harry eagerly.

"Now, don't ask me anymore." Said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."

"But Snape's trying to steal it." Ron said.

"Rubbish." Said Hagrid once more. "Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothing of the sort."

"So why did he just try to kill Harry?" Cried Hermoine.

While Ivy and Hermoine hadn't been on-board with Snape, after today's events, there was no denying it.

"I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid, I've read all about them! You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him!" Hermoine insisted.

"And Harry's broom stopped acting up after Hermoine interrupted him, that's clear proof." Ivy chimed in, backing up her friend.

"I'm telling yeh, yer wrong!" Said Hagrid hotly. "I don' know why Harry's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now, listen to me, all four of yeh— yer meddlin' in thing that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel—"

"Aha!" said Harry. "So, there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved, is there?" He finished, triumphantly.

Hagrid looked furious with himself.


	7. Chapter 7

Christmas was coming. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and the Weasley twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Professor Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban. The few owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy sky to deliver mail (Einri included) had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again (Ivy sent a note telling Aunt Amy the date she would be back, and not to send Einri back, as the weather was too unreliable).

Ivy was in love. The snowcapped fairytale that Hogwarts become was too enchanting, she'd never seen something so surreal. No one could wait for the Holidays to start, and she was no exception, Ivy loved Hogwarts and her friends, but she dearly missed her home.

While the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall had roaring fires, the drafty corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms. Worst of all were Professor Snape's classes down in the dungeons, where their breaths rose in a mist before them and they kept as close as possible to their hot cauldrons, Ivy and Hermoine huddled close together.

"I do feel sorry" Ivy overheard Malfoy practically gloat one Potions class, "for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."

He was clearly talking about Harry, who was measuring out powdered spine of lionfish and doing a wonderful job of ignoring the Slytherins. Malfoy had been even more unpleasant than usual (a feat Ivy thought impossible) since the Quidditch match. Disgusted that the Slytherins had lost, he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouth tree frog would be replacing Harry as Seeker next. Then he'd realized that nobody found this funny, because they were all so impressed at the way Harry had managed to stay on his bucking broomstick. So Malfoy, jealous and angry, had gone back to taunting Harry about having no proper family.

While it was true that Harry wasn't going back home for Christmas, as he had been among the first to sign up when Professor McGonagall had come around the week before with the list of students who would be staying for the holidays, Ivy knew that Harry wasn't feeling sorry at all about this fact. He had told them that night that he was expecting this to be the best Christmas yet, as his 'family' wasn't very nice to him at all (More privately, he had confessed to Ivy exactly what constituted Not Nice and she had hugged him tightly, tears of anger and helplessness escaping her). Ron and his brothers were staying as well, because Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were going to Romania to visit his brother Charlie.

When they left the dungeons at the end of Potions, they found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffin sound told them that Hagrid was behind it.

"Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asked, sticking his head through the branches.

"Nah, I'm alright, thanks, Ron."

"Would you mind moving out of the way?" came Malfoy's cold drawl from behind them. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be a gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts? I suppose that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to."

Ron dived at Malfoy just as Snape came up the stairs. (Typical.)

"WEASLEY!"

Ron let go of the front of Malfoy's robes.

"He was provoked, Professor Snape." Said Hagrid, sticking his huge hairy face out from behind the tree. "Malfoy was insultin' his family."

"Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, Hagrid." Professor Snape said silkily. "Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you."

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle pushed roughed past the tree, scattering needles everywhere and smirking. How Rude!

"I'll get him," said Ron, grinding his teeth at Malfoy's back, face matching his hair. "One of these days…"

"I hate them both." Said Harry, glaring. "Malfoy and Snape."

"Ignore them." Ivy said, a hand on Ron's shoulder.

"Yeah, cheer up, it' nearly Christmas." Said Hagrid. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, it looks a treat."

So the four of them followed Hagrid and his tree off to the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were busy with the Christmas decorations.

"Ah. Hagrid, the last tree— put it in the far corner, would you?"

The hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls, and no less than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles. Ivy was enchanted, she couldn't resist snapping a picture.

"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked.

"Just one." Said Hermoine. "Oh, that reminds me, we've got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library."

"Oh yeah, you're right." Said Ron, tearing his eyes away from Professor Flitwick, who had gold bubbles blossoming out of his wand and was trailing them over the branches of the new tree.

"The library?" Said Hagrid, following them out of the Hall. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"

"Oh, we're not working." Harry said brightly. "Ever since you mentioned Nicolas Flamel we've been trying to find out who he is."

"You what?!" Hagrid looked shocked. "Listen here— I've told yeh— drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'."

"We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, that's all." Said Hermoine, a bit too innocently.

"Yeah, it sounds familiar, and it's been nagging me _so much_ that we're just trying to satisfy our curiosity." Ivy added, just as suspiciously innocent.

"Unless you'd like to tell us and save us the trouble?" Harry joined. "We must've been through hundreds of books already and we can't find him anywhere— just give us a hint— I know I've read his name somewhere."

"I'm sayin' nothing." Said Hagrid flatly.

"Just have to find out for ourselves then." Said Ron, and they left Hagrid looking disgruntled and hurried off to the library.

They had indeed been searching books for Flamel's name ever since Hagrid had let it slip, because how else were they going to find out what Snape was trying to steal? The trouble was, it was very hard to know where to begin, not knowing what Flamel might have done to get himself in a book. He wasn't in Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, or Notable Magical Names of Our Time; he was missing, too, from Important Modern Magical Discoveries, and A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry. And thousands of books; thousands of shelves; hundreds of narrow rows.

Hermoine took out a list of subjects and titles she had decided to search while Ron strode off down a row of books and started pulling them off the shelves at random. Harry wandered over to the Restricted Section, despite Ivy's previous warnings not to snoop around there as Madam Pince was a touchy and suspicious witch. Ivy went along a different direction, wondering if there was a section or book for famous inventors and researchers. _Something_ Flamel created was being targeted, that was the only explanation.

No such luck, once again. Five minutes later, Ivy, Hermoine and Ron met up with Harry in the corridor, where he had been banished by Madam Pince for snooping by the Restricted Section. They headed off to lunch.

"You will keep looking while we're away, won't you?" Hermoine said. "And send an owl if you find anything."

"We'll do our best. And you, you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is." Said Ron. "It'd be safe to ask them."

"Very safe, as they're both dentists." Said Hermoine.

"I'd ask my uncle, but I'm afraid he'd become suspicious…" Ivy said

The next day found Hermoine and Ivy following the trail of students down to the Hogwarts Express, were they made the long journey home, chatting quietly with Neville, who had joined them in their compartment.

They had been traveling peacefully until an unpleasant arrival interrupted them. It was Pansy, accompanied by a rather large, intimidating Slytherin girl, Millicent Bulstrode, they both had nasty smirks. Ivy was reminded of her trip to Hogwarts and how Malfoy had done the same thing.

"Well, look what we have here, a bunch of Gryffindor losers!" Pansy said, her voice was high and nasally, the kind that grated on the ears after long exposure. Millicent laughed along.

"Go away, Parkinson." Hermoine said, scowling. Neville stayed quite, nervously watching the exchange.

"Or you'll what, Granger?" Millicent retorted, face twisting into an ugly grimace.

Ivy staid quiet, face frosty. She hoped things wouldn't escalate anymore, though they outnumbered the Slytherin girls, Millicent was more than a match for all three of them… But that didn't mean she'd back down from a fight.

Fortunately, they were interrupted.

"Parkinson, I heard Malfoy was looking for you." A familiar male voice said from the corridor.

At first, Ivy thought that Pansy wouldn't budge but she just gave an exasperated huff and left, Millicent trailing after her. Soon, Blaise came into view.

"Thanks, Blaise." Ivy said, smiling at the dark Slytherin. He gave her an answering smile, and went on his way. Neville looked at Ivy strangely while Hermoine gave her a sly look. Ivy elbowed Hermoine lightly, making her break out into laughter

The rest of the journey was uneventful.

Once in the Platform, Ivy and Hermoine bid farewell and a Happy Christmas to Neville, who went off with his Grandmother, a formidable and stern looking woman who greeted them politely and pulled Neville away, lost among the throng of students and parents.

Ivy and Hermoine, hand in hand, went around looking for Aunt Amy and Uncle Richard, and finally found them nearing the archway that lead to the rest of King's Cross. Ivy broke into a run as soon as she spotted them.

"Uncle Richard! Aunt Amy!" Ivy squealed as she jumped into their arms, the little knot of homesickness breaking as the familiar embrace and scents comforted her.

"Hi, darling! Good to see you!" Aunt Amy said, giving Ivy a little squeeze.

"Hey, sweetheart! Have you grown taller?" Uncle Richard teased. Ivy simply huffed, usually, she would return the teasing, but she was too happy to come up with a proper retort. She got out of her family's embrace and went to Hermoine, who had been standing awkwardly a bit away.

"Aunt Amy, Uncle Richard, I'd like you to meet my best friend, Hermoine Granger. Hermoine, these are my Aunt Amelia Reed and Uncle Richard Walker." Ivy said, bringing Hermoine closer to her family.

"It's very nice to meet you, Ms. Reed, Mr. Waller. Ivy's told me so much about you both." Hermoine said, polite as ever.

"Oh, none of that. Call me Amy." Aunt Amy said, smiling at the two girls. "Ivy's told us plenty about you Hermoine. It's lovely to finally meet you."

"Please, call me Richard. Mr. Walker is my father." Uncle Richard said, giving the bushy haired first year a kind smile.

"Where are your parents, dear?" Aunt Amy said, going to take Ivy's luggage. Uncle Richard moved to take Hermoine's, who gave a stuttering thanks.

"They're both muggles, so they're waiting for me outside the Platform." Hermoine said.

The four of them started walking towards the archway, not too far off, the two girls with linked arms. Once on the muggle side of King's Cross, they walked around a bit, in search of Hermoine's parents. Suddenly, Hermoine gave out a cry and ran off.

"Mum! Dad!" Hermoine said, almost crashing into a pair of unassuming adults.

Mr. and Mrs. Granger were both of average height and rather plain. Ivy could have passed them a million times on the street and never remember their faces. Ivy and her family gave Hermoine a bit of space while she greeted her parents.

"Ivy, come over here!" Hermoine said. "Let me introduce you. Mom, Dad, this is my best friend, Ivette Walker. Ivy, these are my parents, Charles and Elizabeth Granger." Hermoine said eagerly. "And these are Ivy's aunt and uncle, Amelia Reed and Richard Walker." She continued as Aunt Amy and Uncle Richard came along.

"It's very nice to meet you, dear. Hermoine practically sings your praises in her letters." Mrs. Granger said. She had dark brown hair and kind brown eyes, clearly where Hermoine got her looks. As if to make up for her plain looks, she had a charming, intelligent air about her.

"Thank you for being such a good friend to our Hermoine. She's always found it a bit difficult to make friends." Mr. Granger said, going to shake Ivy's hand and then Uncle Richard's and Aunt Amy's. Mr. Granger was dark haired with blue eyes, he was dressed formally and impeccably.

After bidding Hermoine and her parents goodbye and a Happy Christmas, Ivy, Aunt Amy and Uncle Richard were off. All through the journey back, Ivy regaled them with stories about Hogwarts and the friends she had made there, while they mailed regularly, it was simply impossible to include all the details of her first few months.

They made it home by nightfall, where Ivy helped Aunt Amy with dinner preparations and sat down in their kitchen table after what felt like a lifetime. They chatted happily about the daily happenings in Aunt Amy's store and Uncle Richard's work. Then, a sudden thought occurred to Ivy.

"Hey, Uncle Richard, do you remember the attempted break-in at Gringotts? Did they ever find the culprit?" Ivy asked, as nonchalantly as possible, she knew that if either of her guardians smelled trouble they'd alert the school.

"Gringotts? The wizard bank?" Aunt Amy said, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Yeah, they had a small incident back in the summer, before the term started. Nothing was stolen, but no one was found either, which makes it especially worrisome." Uncle Richard explained. "And to answer your question, Ivy, no one has been accused, though Gringotts asked to handle the matter as discreetly as possible. It's a matter of pride to them, in all the centuries Gringotts has been around, nothing like this has ever happened." Uncle Richard continued.

"I wonder what they were trying to steal…" Ivy mused. She knew, of course, that whatever it was had been moved to Hogwarts before the incident, but maybe she could get an idea of what it was…

"No chance the Goblins would ever tell, they're known for their professionalism when it comes to Gringotts. Anything being put into their care is guaranteed perfect security, privacy and discretion." Uncle Richard said offhandedly, then he looked at Ivy suspiciously. "Where did you hear about this, anyway?"

"Oh, a friend mentioned it on the train to Hogwarts. Ron Weasley, remember?" Ivy said. Darn, her Uncle was sharp.

"Ah, a Weasley. He must be Arthur's youngest son, if I'm not mistaken." Uncle Richard said, all suspicion forgotten.

"You know Ron's dad?" Ivy said, bewildered. She knew the Wizarding community in England was rather small, but that was a bit of a coincidence.

"Sure, he's a great fellow, that Arthur, he works for the Department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts. He's also the one who helped out with the paperwork for your camera." Uncle Richard replied. "Loves muggles, it's how we became friends actually."

The talk turned away from Gringotts and Ivy let it, there wasn't anything to be gained from continuing the conversation. After dinner, Ivy helped Uncle Richard with dishes and all three moved to the living room, where Ivy showed them what she had done with her scrapbook so far.

In the last four months Ivy had acquired a nice amount of pictures, all the way from her journey on the Hogwarts Express to the Halloween feast (taken in the common room as Ivy herself never actually made it to the feast). Both Uncle Richard and Aunt Amy were horrified to hear about the Troll Incident by were quelled by the fact that no one got hurt.

"Dear, why didn't you just tell the professors the truth? Surely, you wouldn't have gotten in trouble for being in the wrong place at the wrong time." Aunt Amy asked.

"Well, yeah, but then Ron and Harry would have gotten in trouble for not alerting a teacher." Ivy explained. _And besides, it helped us to become the friends we are now…_ Ivy thought.

Uncle Richard was more than impressed by the tale of Harry's skill in Quidditch. He regaled them with stories of the games from his own Hogwarts days. The night went on in that vein, looking through Ivy's scrapbook, reminiscing about Uncle Richard's school days and Aunt Amy even pitched in with some stories of her own.

The days leading up to Christmas were peaceful and domestic, almost as if Hogwarts had been a sweet dream Ivy from which Ivy had woken. She filled her days helping Aunt Amy decorate and prepare for Christmas, writing to Hermoine and Harry (and by extension, Ron).

Hermoine was apparently spending Christmas at her grandparent's home, which she wasn't terribly happy with, as she couldn't mention anything Wizard related. Ron had started teaching Harry Wizard Chess, which was exactly like Muggle Chess except that the figures were alive, which made it a lot like directing troops in battle. Ron's set had belonged to his grandfather, which seemed to give him and even bigger advantage as they trusted him. Ivy thought it probably had more to do with Ron being an excellent player, but dared to say it.

On Christmas Day Ivy woke much later than she would have normally. She took her time getting ready, a long hot shower, and got dressed in comfortable clothing. Making her way down the stairs carefully and quietly, she found Aunt Amy in the kitchen with breakfast ready and reading the newspaper.

"Good morning, sleepyhead. I expected you to wake me at dawn to open presents." Aunt Amy said as Ivy ambled through the kitchen to get her breakfast (Scrambled eggs and sausages with a glass of milk) ready.

"Good morning, Aunt Amy." Ivy said, through a rather large yawn. "I had lots of trouble sleeping last night."

And indeed she had, her night was riddled with barely remembered nightmares, mirrored illusions, a blazing fire, and chilling screams that had her waking up with a vague headache. But she didn't tell Aunt Amy any of this, she's been riddled with strange dreams and nightmares since young, and those were preferable to actual nightmares if only for the fact that she would forget them within minutes of waking.

Once breakfast was done, they moved to the living room, where Aunt Amy had collected all the presents under the Christmas tree, a sight that cheered Ivy greatly. There were more packages this year, most likely from Ivy's new friends.

A small, green wrapped box marked "Love, Hermoine" was the first to be opened, inside was a lovely pair of silver, star-shaped earrings. Ivy gave an awed gasp, and then wondered at the similar way of thinking of her best friend, as she had gifted Hermoine a pair of gold, heart-shaped earrings.

"Those are lovely, she's got good taste." Said Aunt Amy from the couch. She was reclining with a warm cup of tea, just watching Ivy open her gifts.

A brown parcel claiming to be from the Weasley Twins (and Ron) contained an assortment of sweets that she set aside for later tonight. A crimson red package from Aunt Helena, Aunt Louise and Eric contained a beautiful crimson-and-gold scarf (no doubt hand knitted by Aunt Louise), an assortment of sweets (probably Eric's pick), and a collection of different colored hair accessories (definitely chosen by Aunt Helena).

There was a large box covered in snowflake patterned wrapping paper, marked "From Aunt Amy and Uncle Richard". This contained more scrapbooking supplies and rolls of film for her camera. This made Ivy squeal and jump at Aunt Amy, who only chuckled and squeezed the girl in her lap. Ivy laid there a while, enjoying her aunt's warm embrace, but eventually got back up to finish her presents.

The next present Ivy opened was from Neville, it contained a lovely book on magical plants for recreational gardening. It seemed like an original edition and Ivy wondered how Neville had gotten this. Blaise had sent her small collection of fiction novels that was apparently popular in the wizarding world now.

The last present was from Harry, it was a lovely charm bracelet. Ivy felt breathless, it was a beautiful silver chain, not too thin but not too bulky. There was only charm hanging from it, a silver witch's hat.

"Well, isn't that lovely? Is that from Harry?" Aunt Amy said from the couch. Ivy ran over to show her.

"Yeah, I didn't think he's get something like this." Ivy said, enamored with the little bracelet.

"He certainly has more taste than all the men in our family." Aunt Amy said jokingly.

After all the gifts had been opened, Ivy went to clean out the mess of wrapping paper she had made, and put away all her new gifts. The rest of the day was spent in the kitchen, preparing the Christmas dinner; it was their little tradition, sometimes with the rest of Ivy's family but always the three of them.

Ivy took care of dessert while Aunt Amy took to cooking the rest. They were having roast duck, steamed vegetables, potatoes au gratin, for dessert Ivy had made a simple vanilla cake. She decided that simple would be better as she wanted to go all out on the decorations, this was the first year she was allowed to do it by herself. Baking was one of the few things she took pride in, so much so, that she had sent her baked goods as presents to her friends (with the exception of Hermoine who got additional earrings).

By the time Uncle Richard knocked on the door, Ivy had already set the (rarely used) dining table with the fancy china, all that was left was to wait for the duck to finish. Uncle Richard's job was to bring the drinks, he brought some fancy wine for Aunt Amy and himself and non-alcoholic green apple cider for Ivy.

The rest of the evening was a quiet affair, they chatted like always, Uncle Richard and Ivy complimenting the food and then he and Aunt Amy complimenting her dessert. After dinner they went to the living room where Aunt Amy and Uncle Richard continued to chat, Ivy chiming in every once in a while, but she was mostly quiet.

Ivy starred off into space, thinking about her friends, wondering what they might be doing at that moment. Hermoine was no doubt enjoying the evening with her family, Harry and the rest of the Weasleys were probably having a nice time at Hogwarts (Fred and George most likely causing lots of mayhem). Neville mentioned that all his relatives gathered at his grandmother's house (She wondered if celebrations would be more festive this year on account of his entering Hogwarts). Blaise mentioned not being too excited for Christmas since his mother made him attend a Christmas Ball with all the other rich and important Wizarding families (apparently it was made insufferable by people like the Malfoys).

Ivy was so lost in thought she didn't notice when her thoughts turned into dreams and she drifted off to sleep. It was a while later when Uncle Richard carried her to bed and tucked her in.


End file.
